{"id":257348,"date":"2026-01-22T04:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T04:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257348\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T04:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T04:44:18","slug":"hoda-kotb-looks-back-at-early-days-with-kathie-lee-gifford-on-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257348\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoda Kotb Looks Back at Early Days With Kathie Lee Gifford on \u2018Today\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hoda Kotb<\/a> and Kathie Lee Gifford<\/a> changed each other for the better during their time as Today<\/a> cohosts.<\/p>\n

The two women reminisced about their time working together on the NBC morning show on the Wednesday, January 21, episode of Kotb\u2019s Making Space<\/a> podcast. Kotb helped launch the fourth hour of Today in 2007 with Ann Curry<\/a> and Natalie Morales<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t until Gifford filled in for one of the hosts one day that Kotb knew they had something special on their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget it. It was like, it\u2019s like someone turned the lights on. Kath came out in the crowd. You were just dazzling. I was like, I almost wasn\u2019t even paying attention to anything else. I was just watching you,\u201d she shared. \u201cAnd the powers that be have done something they\u2019ve never done at NBC. They came across the street. Remember? They were like, \u2018Kathie Lee, oh, my God, that was amazing.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Kotb said that NBC execs wanted to decide who would lead the fourth hour of Today with Gifford. However, Gifford said she would only take on the job if she got to do it with Kotb.<\/p>\n

On the podcast, Gifford admitted she was hesitant to join Today after nearly two decades of cohosting\u00a0Live<\/a> with Regis and Kathie Lee with Regis Philbin<\/a>. \u201cI said, \u2018You know, if we ever did have a show together, I think we would have a great show.\u2019 But I said, \u2018But I don\u2019t think we can at 10 o\u2019clock in the morning,’\u201d she explained. \u201cIt was hard enough for Regis and I to get that kind of success because people stop watching TV, at least they used to, at that time. They left the TVs, and they went to work, or they went about their days. We would have to create something that was not there, and that takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hoda<\/p>\n

Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford on the April 7, 2009, episode of NBC’s ‘Today With Kathie Lee & Hoda.’<\/p>\n

Jessica Miglio \/ \u00a9 NBC \/ courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Gifford ultimately accepted the hosting role, and Today With Kathie Lee & Hoda officially launched in 2008. Kotb has nothing but fond memories of working with Gifford, as she said her cohost was welcoming to everyone on set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember you inviting everyone to your house and taking care of our staff coming over. [They were like,] \u2018Let\u2019s go to Kath\u2019s! Let\u2019s go to Kath\u2019s.\u2019 [You were] passing out wine to everybody. Everybody felt [at] home. \u201cYou had this ability, and it was something that we had at the show, you and I,\u201d Kotb shared. \u201c[You were] seeing people, like, seeing them, knowing names. When you came in, you were like, \u2018What happened with your niece? Tell me about the birthday.\u2019 Like, it was that kind of a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kotb also credits Gifford for helping her come out of her shell as a host. \u201cEvery time I give a speech today, and I still give them, I always say the same thing. Like, \u2018I spent most of my professional career putting a circle in a square and trying to be something I wasn\u2019t, until you. Until I sat with you,’\u201d she revealed.<\/p>\n

Kotb continued, \u201cThe funny thing is, I remember not even knowing that I was putting a circle in a square. I thought, \u2018That\u2019s how it fit. That\u2019s how it felt.\u2019 And then when I sat with you, it was like, \u2018I didn\u2019t know it could feel this way.\u2019 And you kept saying, \u2018Just because it\u2019s fun and it feels effortless,\u2019 because for us it did, it didn\u2019t mean it wasn\u2019t work. I understood from that minute, from the minute with the cards, from the minute we sat next to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gifford left the fourth hour of Today in 2019, after which Jenna Bush Hager<\/a> took over her role as Kotb\u2019s cohost. Today With Hoda & Jenna ran until Kotb\u2019s departure<\/a> in January 2025. Bush Hager continued to lead the fourth hour, retitled as Today With Jenna & Friends, with a rotating lineup of celebrity guest hosts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In December 2025, it was announced<\/a> that Today\u2018s Sheinelle Jones<\/a> would become Bush Hager\u2019s new cohost. The fourth hour of Today relaunched<\/a> as Today With Jenna & Sheinelle on January 12. Kotb and Gifford even surprised Bush Hager and Jones on-air to formally pass the torch to the show\u2019s new hosting duo.<\/p>\n

Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10a\/9c, NBC<\/p>\n

Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford changed each other for the better during their time as Today cohosts.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,8966,61,60,8962,128030,128029,9057,128031,282],"class_list":["post-257348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-hoda-kotb","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jenna-bush-hager","tag-kathie-lee","tag-kathie-lee-gifford","tag-nbc","tag-regis-and-kathie-lee","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}