Johnathan Walker:Kathie Lee Gifford says Hoda Kotb's 'Today' show exit is 'bittersweet'

Kathie Lee Gifford is Johnathan Walkerfeeling "bittersweet" about Hoda Kotb stepping away from her "Today" show desk next year.

"Bittersweet news as my dear friend @hodakotb steps away from the Today Show," Gifford posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. "Her warmth, laughter, and incredible spirit have brightened our mornings and touched countless hearts. Here’s to new adventures! 🥂"

Gifford, 71, and Kotb, 60, co-hosted the fourth hour of the NBC morning show from 2008 to 2019, when Gifford left "Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda" to pursue other projects.

"It’s not that I wanted to leave the 'Today' show," Gifford told USA TODAY in 2019. "I just had to leave if I wanted to actually fulfill lifetime dreams I have that I’m running out of time for." Earlier this year, she guest starred alongside her daughter Cassidy in the Amazon Prime Video series "The Baxters."

"There’s not a false bone in her body. There’s not a mean bone in her body," she said of Kotb. "She’s incredibly smart and brilliant, but she’s childlike, too, in the best sense of the word: about life, about wonder, the wonder of life, especially since she’s become a mother. She’s an amazing mother." 

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Kotb shocked fans when she revealed her impending departure from "Today" on Thursday morning.

She wiped away tears as she shared the news, describing the decision as the "hardest thing in the world." She said turning 60 last month was a "monumental" moment for her that made her think about the decade ahead.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she said, adding, "This is the right time for me to move on."

Kotb also said that her children deserve a "bigger piece of my time pie." She plans to leave "Today" in early 2025.

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How Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager reacted to Hoda Kotb's departure news

Kotb has worked with NBC News since 1998, originally as a "Dateline" correspondent and has served as co-anchor of the "Today" show with Savannah Guthrie since 2018. Since Gifford's departure in 2019, she has shared the fourth hour desk with Jenna Bush Hager.

During Thursday's program, an emotional Guthrie said, "I am so proud of my friend."

"You have guts. For someone to leave at the top of their game, to leave something that's wonderful, that you love, where it's easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun, and say, 'But I dream even bigger for myself.' You have so much guts," she continued. "You inspire me. I love you."

Later, on "Today with Hoda and Jenna," both co-hosts were in tears.

"Hoda told me just a couple days ago, and when she told me, my first reaction was from my gut and it was almost crazy. … and I said, ‘No, you can’t leave,’” Bush Hager said. "You are who I come to when I'm feeling joyful, when I'm feeling unsure. You are who I come to. And you believed in me first. We had a lot of bosses, but this lady, on Oct. 28, 2013 — I looked it up — she said, 'Hey, wanna come sit next to me? There's room.'"

"But here's the thing," Kotb replied. "Looking at you and seeing magic was one of the easiest things I've seen in my life."

Contributing: Brendan Morrow