Today welcomed back much-loved the show's much-loved Style Editor Bobbie Thomas this week, one year on from her husband Michael Marion's tragic death.
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Bobbie received a warm welcome as she returned to Studio 1A during an emotional reunion.
"We rarely have guests on our show but when we do it means a lot to us," Hoda Kotb told viewers on the Fourth Hour of the show, as Bobbie walked out on set.
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Visibly emotional as she embraced Hoda and co-star Jenna Bush Hager, she told them: "I was already crying before I came out."
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"I think Bobbie might be the most beloved people among our Today Show staff, everyone was so excited that you're back," Hoda added.
"I am so lucky to call this home," Bobbie told her colleagues, before announcing a new project called "Dear Bobbie", which will see her accept submissions from viewers about their own life challenges.
Bobbie Thomas opened up about her grief in a heartfelt essay for Today
Bobbie's late husband Michael was a lawyer, and suffered a stroke in April 2019 that left his struggling to walk.
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Tragically, a year later in December 2020, he passed away from an unrelated infection.
The pair share six-year-old son Miles. Before her return on Thursday, Bobbie penned a candid essay for the Today website where she said she felt "blessed" to enter a new chapter in her life.
Bobbie made an emotional return to Today on Thursday
She wrote: "I just really want to boomerang back with my whole heart. I feel like I've always been looking to extend myself as a girlfriend. "I've called it a 'professional girlfriend' — whether it was talking about the power of lipstick or helping to navigate something else in the lifestyle arena."
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"For me, what pushes me is knowing that I'm not alone. And I think the outpouring of love that I was really lucky to have and grateful for because of this platform has just pushed me to find purpose for my pain."
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