Hoda Kotb recalled the day she was told she would die if she didn't listen to her doctors' advice during her breast cancer battle in 2007.
The former Today star, 60, returned to her podcast, Making Space, on Wednesday and spoke about the tough decisions she was faced with during her cancer ordeal.
"I remember after my diagnosis, I went to three other specialists," Hoda said. "I had a mastectomy, and one doctor said, 'You need chemo.' One said, 'You don't need chemo.' And one said, 'You can't make a mistake either way.'"
© Getty ImagesRecalling the terrifying warning she received if she decided against chemotherapy, Hoda continued: "One person said, 'You'll be dead if you don't do it.' I couldn't believe it. I mean, I have chills right now thinking about it."
Despite the doomsday advice, Hoda admitted her "decision was clear." She added: "I did not do chemotherapy, and it was right for me."
Hoda has been cancer-free since 2007, and while she didn't opt for chemo, she did have a mastectomy.
"After the diagnosis and after the surgery, I literally woke up from my bed, like, in a start," Hoda shared. "And I [thought], 'You can't scare me.' I was like, 'What am I afraid of now?'"
© Getty ImagesHoda admitted that her diagnosis gave her the "courage" to seek out more opportunities, which led to her landing her fourth hour of Today co-hosting gig.
"I went to 30 Rock, I hit 52 on the elevator bank, I went up to where those guys are that I've never seen because they all sit up there. And I said, 'I don't know if you even know me, but let me tell you what happened to me.'
© Getty Images"And I went on this whole spiel," she recalled. "I go, 'They’re starting a new hour of the Today show. I want that. I think I could do that." He was like kind of looking at me like, "What?'
"[My cancer diagnosis] unleashed courage and things like, 'What was I waiting for? Someone to notice me? I'm working at my desk. Are they going to see me? Of course they're not,'" she noted.
© Getty ImagesThree weeks later, Hoda got her wish and began co-hosting the fourth hour of Today alongside Kathie Lee Gifford.
Hoda announced her departure from Today in September 2024 and admitted at the time that she wanted to "try something new" and spend more time with her family.
She left the show on January 10 and was replaced by Craig Melvin.
Hoda's next business venture will be a wellness app, which she announced ahead of her Today departure.
© Getty Images"I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats and a podcast and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love," she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
"I kind of got hooked in the wellness space, like a couple of years ago. I started doing stuff that I thought seemed woo woo and weird, and then all of a sudden as I was doing it, I was like, 'Wait, I feel calmer, I feel better,'" she confessed.
