Hoda Kotb returns to ‘Today,’ reveals her daughter was sick

“Today” co-anchor Hoda Kotb returned to the NBC morning program Monday after a protracted absence and revealed that her 3-year-old daughter was not too long ago hospitalized.

Kotb defined on air that her youngest little one, Hope, was within the intensive care unit “for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week” after falling unwell. Last week, “Today” co-anchor Craig Melvin informed viewers Kotb was coping with “a family health matter” amid mounting concern for the absent newscaster.

“I’m so grateful she’s home,” Kotb said Monday whereas updating viewers on her daughter’s situation. “She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”

Prior to this week, Kotb hadn’t appeared reside on “Today” since Feb. 17. For some time, the veteran broadcast journalist, mom and breast most cancers survivor’s mysterious hiatus went unexplained, prompting followers to flood her social media pages with messages of affection and assist.

Kotb’s co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie, was additionally again within the studio Monday after exiting the present mid-broadcast final week and testing constructive for COVID-19.

“What I realized too Savannah is, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out,” Kotb mentioned Monday. “I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell [Medicine] who were amazing — and the nurses. And I’m grateful to my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. … I love you.”

“I love you too,” Guthrie mentioned as Kotb fought again tears. “You have a lot of friends out there lifting you up, and Hope too.”