Entertainment

/

ArcaMax

Hoda Kotb's decision to leave Today was fuelled by her daughter's major health crisis

Bang Showbiz on

Published in Entertainment News

Hoda Kotb decided to leave 'Today' when her daughter was facing a health crisis.

The 60-year-old journalist - who is the adoptive mother of Haley, eight, and six-year-old Hope - recently stepped down from her long-running position as host of the NBC news programme 'Today' alongside Jenna Bush Hager and after revealing that her daughter had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, recalledthat that the "worry" she felt when the little one took ill "definitely factored in" to her decision to quit.

She told US TV show 'Extra': "We thought it was the flu and it wasn't getting better. I went to the pediatrician a handful of times, and they kept saying that it seemed like the flu and don't worry, don't worry, and one day I looked at her and I said, 'I'm worried.' So I took her to the ER and she was in the ICU for several days, so it was difficult.

"It definitely factored in [to my decision to leave]. I mean, look, all I did was look at her numbers. I had my phone on the set when we were doing the news, and I was looking, 'cause you can see what her levels are doing, and if they drop too low, she needs help. So I was constantly looking at it, calling the school, calling my babysitter, calling, and I'm like, 'Why am I calling all the time? Just, you be there.

 

Meanwhile, the 'Dateline' presenter noted that she had become so "tired" in the run-up to her exit from the show that her former co-host had "forced" her to undertake a breathing class - which she was reluctant to do - and now she has become open-minded to all forms of wellness methods.

She said: "I think I was tired, man. I think I felt depleted. I think I couldn't figure out why I felt like I was carrying a heavy load. I was doing all the things, but I didn't feel right. I tried a breath work class -- Jenna forced me. I was, like, stiff-arming her. I was like, 'I don't want your breath work, crazy. I'm not woo-woo like you are.' And then I tried it, and she was like, 'Did you cry?' I go, 'I did.' She goes, 'See?' So, I felt a clarity and an energy that I was lacking, and it felt so good, so, and then it just snowballed. I'm just insatiable. I try this, I try that. I'm gonna try everything!"


 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus