“If you want excellence, you have to give something”

Hoda Kotb announced she was leaving the Today show after 17 years and is opening up about what motivated her decision.

In a new interview, Kotb said that the driving force behind her decision to step away from the morning show was to spend more time with her family.

“I knew I wanted this decade to be different,” Kotb said People about turning 60 and wanting a change in her life. “I looked at my time like a cake. I thought, ‘I have this much time, and now what do I do with it and how do I divide it?’ And I wanted there to be more of it.”

She continued: “There's the guilt you carry because you can't be 100% at work and 100% at home. If you want excellence, you have to give something. If you want to excel at work, you have to excel at home. And if you want to be excellent at home, I mean excellentand do all the things, something has give at work. It can’t be the same.”

Kotb has two daughters, a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. In 2023, Kotb took time off from the show to be with her youngest daughter in the intensive care unit, which led the TV host to continue to prioritize her family.

“I had longings, and you know when something pulls you? It's like you either walk up to it or push it down and say, 'No, this is the way.'” “I'm going to stay here because it's safe,” she said. “It actually makes more sense to stay with NBC. I am financially secure and would have a secure job. I mean, why would you ever not do that? But I was looking after my kids and I thought, 'I wonder what I'm missing?'”

Kotb also notes that not having to go to bed early to get up early the next day allows her to have a social life, adding, “I thought, you know what? I'm not going to play 'Beat the Clock' all the time anymore.”

Kotb should leave this Today Show in early 2025.