Hoda Kotb teases her next chapter after quitting ‘Today,’ admits she’s ‘terrified’ to move on

Hoda Kotb admits she is a bit fearful of what’s next for her after quitting the “Today” show.

“Yeah, it’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s all those things, but it’s also exactly right,” the news anchor, 60, said on “Today with Hoda & Jenna” Friday.

Kotb explained that 75 percent of herself has “emotionally” moved on but the other part of her is still reconciling with her decision because she is still at NBC and hasn’t completely started her next chapter.

However, the longtime “Today” show host — who worked on the morning news program for 26 years — said she has decided to “fall in love” with the idea of a new beginning.

Hoda Kotb talked about her decision to quit her job on “Today with Hoda & Jenna” Friday. Hoda And Jenna/NBC “It’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s all those things,” she admitted on “Today with Hoda & Jenna” Friday Hoda And Jenna/NBC

“Whenever I made a leap, a move, a jump — it was, like, I’m falling in love,” she explained. “When I moved to this town, I’m falling in love. I’m going to fall in love with a place, a restaurant, a friend, I’m going to meet a boyfriend.”

Kotb likened her fresh start to “re-potting” a plant, in which you’re “pulled up by your very roots, your foundation, everything that grounds you and your roots are in the air.

She’s even wondered where she’s “going to land” before realizing that “so much of life is decision-making.”

Kotb concluded, “When you love something, it’s hard to say goodbye to it because it doesn’t make sense, but there was something to me about recognizing a peak and saying in that peak, like, ‘I do not feel that there is an opportunity that would make this any better than it is today.’

Kotb explained on “Today with Hoda & Jenna” Friday that she has decided to “fall in love” with her next chapter. Hoda And Jenna/NBC The journalist first announced her exit in September. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

“Once that feeling hits you, it’s like this is it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days trying to recreate the top of the mountain. It was glorious. It was unforgettable.”

In September, the renowned journalist teared up explaining why she made the “hard” decision to leave.

“I just turned 60 and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old because I started thinking about that decade. Like, ‘What does that decade mean? What does it hold? What it’s gonna have for me?’” she said during the live broadcast.

An insider added to Page Six at the time, “It’s heartbreaking for everyone, but Hoda wants to be able to walk her kids to school.”

Kotb tearfully explained in September that her 60th birthday was a real turning point for her. NBC An insider previously told Page Six that Kotb, seen here with her two daughters, wants to be able to “walk her kids to school.” Hoda Kotb/Instagram

The source added at the time that NBC execs were still trying to work out how to include Kotb in some of their future projects in “some capacity,” whether with special interviews or her “Today”-adjacent podcast.

However, additional insiders also told Page Six last month that Kotb’s decision was not rash and she had been “contemplating it for a really long time.”

Still, one source pointed out, “People were shocked. It’s still very shocking.”