Hoda Kotb is overwhelmed by the fan support after tonight's Exit News show

Hoda Kotb is feeling the love from fans after announcing she will be leaving soon Today show after 26 years on NBC.

“Happy Friday… thank you for the lovely posts and notes. I read them all,” Kotb, 60, wrote via Instagram on Friday, September 27. “It's almost too much for my heart to bear…so I'll let it overflow – I love you more than you know…this post spoke for me #joy.”

Kotb shared her message along with a clip of an inspirational quote. “When you finally realize that Joy is less fireworks, more fireflies, less orchestra, more birdsong, she'll come back a lot more often,” says a voiceover in the video over shots of a picturesque forest. “For Joy will not struggle with the fast pace of this life. It is not shiny or new. She breathes in the fundamental, simmers in the simple and dances in the daily back and forth.”

The quote continued: “Joy has been tempting you for many years, my friend. You're just too busy watching it. Next time Joy wraps her quiet warmth around you as the garden embraces your tired body in its wildness, nod to her. She doesn't stay long. But if you are a friendly host, Joy will come back.”

Related: The “Today” show hosts react to Hoda Kotb’s surprise exit

The news of Hoda Kotb's exit from the Today show is bittersweet for her co-hosts. “I just turned 60 and it was a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 because I started thinking about this decade: What does this decade mean? What does it hold? What will it have for me?” Kotb, (…)

Kotb announced her Today exit on the Thursday, September 26 episode of the morning show, after which she shared a short message of thanks via Instagram. “Happy Thursday xx and thank you ❤️,” she wrote alongside another inspirational quote that read, “By the way, I wear the smile you gave me.”

On Thursday Today Kotb subsequently explained that she decided to leave the series shortly after she turned 60. “And it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 because I started thinking about this decade: What does this decade mean?” What does it hold? What will it have for me?” she explained. “And I realized that at 60 it was time for me to turn the page and try something new.”

Reflecting on her special episodes celebrating her 60th birthday last month, Kotb continued: “I remember standing outside and looking at this beautiful group of people with all these beautiful signs, and I thought, 'That's what it feels like the peak of the wave for me.' ,' and I thought, 'It can't get any better.' And (I) decided this was the right time for me to move on, so to speak.”

Her role as mother to her two daughters – Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 – also had a major influence on her decision to step down. “I had my kids late in life, and I thought they deserved a bigger piece of my time, the pie that I have,” says Kotb, who shares her children with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffmandivided. “I feel like we only have a limited amount of time. And despite all that, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

Related: Hoda Kotb's most memorable and emotional moments from the “Today” show

Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb's nearly 20 years on the Today show have been full of unforgettable moments. The TV personality announced in September 2024 that she would be leaving the iconic morning show after 26 years at NBC, 16 years as a Today co-host and seven years as Savannah Guthrie's co-host. “I just turned around (…)

Kotb concluded her announcement by revealing that she will remain on the show until January 2025 and will remain with the NBC family for her next career moves.

It has not been announced who will replace Kotb Savannah Guthrie's Coanchor and Jenna Bush Hager'S Today with Hoda & Jenna Co-host. However, an NBC insider reported exclusively Us weekly on Thursday that “the big contender that everyone on the network is talking about is Laura Jarrett – She has a really great chance.”

The insider added: “She is the anchor of This weekend; She's a lawyer like Savannah. She is a treasure in Today show who has risen very quickly.”

Kotb's farewell message caused her tearful reactions Today Colleagues, especially Bush Hager, 42. “Hoda just told me a few days ago, and when she told me, my first reaction was from my gut and was almost crazy. … I said, 'No, you can't go,'” Bush Hager, 42, said as he sobbed Thursday Hoda and Jenna.

Bush Hager noted that she told her father, the former president George W Bushabout Hoda's departure via phone call on Wednesday, September 25th. “He said, 'Oh, she's leaving because it's time and you're going to be fine.' It's your turn. “It’s okay,” she said.

Kotb responded by standing up and applauding her friend before saying, “Your turn. And whoever sits in that seat, whoever sits in that seat, is going to have the easiest job in the world because they’re sitting next to you.”