Hoda Kotb has been a mainstay on “Today” for years, first on the fourth hour of the program along with Kathie Lee Gifford and later Jenna Bush Hager before also co-anchoring the morning show since 2018. So, when she took a break from the show in mid-February, fans quickly began to wonder what was going on.
After being absent from the live show since February 17, with her colleagues only telling viewers that she was “out,” Kotb’s absence was finally addressed on Wednesday, reports People.
Craig Melvin, one of the journalists filling in for Kotb’s anchoring duties while she’s been away, said “we know a lot of you have been wondering how she’s doing. We can tell you that Hoda’s okay,” before clarifying that she has a “family health matter that she’s been dealing with.”
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Though it is unclear what the specific matter is, Kotb has been posting regularly on social media, sharing messages that read “sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts,” “choose hope,” and “one day you will see just how brave you have been.”
Kotb isn’t the only “Today” anchor out of office this week, as her co-host Savannah Guthrie had to leave in the middle of taping Tuesday’s show after testing positive for coronavirus.
Sheinelle Jones, who has also been filling in for Kotb on “Today,” told viewers that it had “been an interesting morning for us. As we said, Savannah left early, she wasn’t feeling great so she took a COVID test. It came back positive. So as soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up.”
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