This certainly came out of nowhere! Kathie Lee Gifford announced this morning that she’ll be leaving the TODAY Show in April after 11 years on the program with Hoda Kotb. As you remember, Kathie Lee has a long history of morning television, hosting “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee” from 1985 to 2008, and then joining TODAY in 2008.
As for the 10am hour? It appears that Hoda will still be involved, despite her now having a higher profile gig with the 7-9 a.m. portion of the show. This will be the second big move for the morning show in its entirety, after Megyn Kelly’s recent abrupt exit in the 9 a.m. hour.
Some of Kathie Lee's full remarks from this morning:
"It's bittersweet, as these things always are. But, I've been here almost 11 years. Thought I would stay one year. Something happened along the way: I fell in love with a beautiful Egyptian goddess. [referring to Kotb] And now, when it's our 11th anniversary, I'm going to be leaving the 'Today' show. It's an exciting time for me, and I'm thrilled about all the projects that are coming up. But it's also hard, because the reason I stayed longer than a year is because I love everybody here so much."
Check out the full video below.