Hoda Kotb is excited to kick off a brand new holiday season, and is bringing the viewers of the Today Show along with her. Although not all of her co-hosts seem as amused.
While the impending arrival of Christmas, Hanukkah, and the season of merriment in general can bring joy and togetherness with it, behind the scenes, there's often an impending level of stress waiting to surface.
And such was the feeling that Hoda's co-anchor Savannah Guthrie tapped into on the latest iteration of the morning news show, clearly a bit more anxious about the coming season than her co-worker.
At the top of the show, Hoda addressed the elephant in the room — we're officially just one week away from Christmas and Hanukkah on December 25, a lot sooner than you'd think.
While addressing a story about shipping delays ahead of holiday gifting, the 60-year-old TV veteran turned to her co-host and said: "I call this a public service announcement, you call it a trigger warning, we do begin with our daily holiday countdown!"
"Don't adjust your screen, the number's right! Christmas and Hanukkah, one week away, that's just seven short days," she continued, to which Savannah, 52, sighed and responded: "Ugh, so much to do!"
© Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty ImagesThat sentiment resurfaced later during the show, before heading into commercial, when Hoda once again mentioned the shipping delays just one week before the holidays, which made Savannah visibly squirm.
They were also joined by Craig Melvin and Al Roker by this point, and while Al nodded along, Craig joined Savannah in slowly shaking their heads, confronted with the fleeting reality of their Decembers.
"Stop saying that," Savannah said to Hoda after she brought up once again that they were a week out, and Hoda jokingly retorted: "I can't help it," and Savannah knowingly said back: "I know."
© Getty ImagesThe arrival of December 25 also marks a bittersweet moment for the Today family, being their last holiday season with Hoda in the helm. She departs her role as co-anchor of the morning news show next month, with Craig taking her place.
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Hoda's last date is January 10, 2025, although it is yet to be announced who will replace her on the Fourth Hour aka Today with Hoda and Jenna beside Jenna Bush Hager.
© NBCOn the latest episode of her podcast Making Space, she spoke fondly about the one thing she's looking forward to the most after leaving the show — taking her daughters Haley, seven, and Hope, five, to school herself.
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"It's funny," she told her guest Walker Hayes. "When I was mentioning here that I was going to leave the Today Show, one of our producers came upstairs in the makeup room, and she said, 'I want to say something to you.'"
© Hoda Kotb"She goes, 'My mother walking me to school every day was the best memory I've ever had.' And all I want to do is walk my kids to school. And it's the simplest thing, with a cup of coffee, walking your kids to school. But all the little things, you get to see growth."
