Hoda Kotb is leaving NBC's 'Today' show early next year

FILE - Hoda Kotb appears on NBC's "Today" show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Hoda Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the “Today” show early next year, telling staffers “it’s time.”

In a memo to her team — and later in an emotional on-air reveal Thursday — Kotb said her 60th birthday this summer helped trigger the departure: “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”

Kotb has co-anchored the first two hours of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie since 2018, filling in after Matt Lauer was fired amid sexual harassment allegations. She continued to co-host of the fourth hour of the morning show with Jenna Bush Hager, having previously hosted it alongside Kathie Lee Gifford. Kotb first joined NBC News as a correspondent for “Dateline” in 1998, and later joined “Today” in 2007.

Her daughters are Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

Kotb was surrounded by her co-workers when she told viewers of her decision, saying, “This is the hardest thing in the world” and “I’ve been practicing so I wouldn’t cry, but anyway, I did.”

“We love you so much,” Guthrie, who has co-anchored “Today” with Kotb for more than five years, said with tears in her eyes. “And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. We don’t want to imagine this place without you.”

Kotb's goodbye note mentioned many of her co-workers, like Al Roker: “Savannah: my rock. Jenna: my ride-or-die. Al: my longest friend at 30 Rock.”

“Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart. I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine,” she wrote.

“I’m actually excited for her,” said Imani M. Cheers, an associate professor of digital storytelling at the George Washington University. “I think it’s a huge loss, but I am so excited to see what she’s going to do next. I think it’s poignant. It comes a point in all of our lives: You do have to pivot.”

The move leaves two morning slots open for NBC as it tries to regain the top morning slot from ABC's “Good Morning America,” which features Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan.

Cheers said Kotb had the ability to do hard news and soft, be welcoming but also no-nonsense, making her a hard person to replace.

“She was able to bring a brevity and just a bubbly light touch, but also could be someone that’s going to talk about very serious and heavy topics. She’s trusted. You feel that if she’s reporting that it’s going to be fair and it’s going to be balanced. And that is really hard to come by,” Cheers said.