It’s the end of an era for the Today show.
During Tuesday’s installment of the popular morning show, Kathie Lee Gifford announced on-air that she would be departing in April 2019. Both Kathie Lee and her longtime fourth hour cohost, Hoda Kotb, got visibly emotional while announcing the news.
“I have something to share with everybody, and it’s bittersweet as these things always are. I’ve been here almost 11 years. I thought I would stay one year. Something happened along the way — fell in love with a beautiful Egyptian goddess,” she said, referring to Hoda. “And now when it’s our 11th anniversary, I’m going to be leaving the Today show.”
Kathie Lee went on to explain why she’d stayed longer than she expected to, joking that she’s “been in this business 120 years” and never worked with “a more beautiful” group of people than she did at the NBC morning show.
“It’s an exciting time for me, and I’m thrilled about all the projects that are coming up, but it’s also hard because the reason I stayed longer than a year is because I love everybody here so much,” she said.
Hoda was equally emotional during the segment, praising her longtime cohost and friend and speaking about the impact Kathie Lee has had on her life.
“The minute you stepped into my life with both feet, everything changed,” Hoda said, choking back tears. “Everything good that’s happened in my life has happened since you came.… I remember thinking, how does one person step in your life and change it like that? And you did that for me.”
An internal memo from NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim further explained that Kathie Lee would be leaving Today to focus on other projects.
“As we all know, Kathie Lee’s plate has been overflowing lately with film, music and book projects, and after giving us eleven extraordinary years, she’s decided to focus her attention full-time on those other creative endeavors,” he wrote.
According to People, Kathie Lee joined the Today show in 2008. Prior to her time on this show, she spent 15 years as a cohost on ABC’s Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee alongside Regis Philbin.
Source : https://www.littlethings.com/kathie-lee-gifford-leaving-today-show/