Hoda Kotb tears up as she reveals her three-year-old daughter Hope was in the ICU

Hoda Kotb has tearfully revealed that her three-year-old daughter Hope Catherine spent several days in the ICU battling a ‘health issue’ as the Today host made an emotional return to the morning show following a two-week absence. 

The 58-year-old – who has not appeared on the Today show since February 17 – opened up about her daughter’s illness, telling her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie: ‘My youngest Hope was in the ICU for a few days and then the hospital for a little more than a week. 

‘I’m so grateful she is home, she is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.’

Hoda then began to tear up as she paid tribute to all of the doctors and medical staff who took care of her daughter, before thanking her family and friends for all of their support during the difficult time. 

The 58-year-old – who also has a six-year-old daughter, Haley (right) – did not reveal what illness her daughter had been battling, but said she had to spend ‘a little more than a week’ in the hospital  

‘And you know what I realized too? When your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who have helped you out,’ she explained. 

‘I’m grateful for the doctors at Weil Cornell who were amazing and the nurses and I’m grateful to my family and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. 

‘I want to say thank you for that. I love you.’

Hoda’s return to the morning show comes more than two weeks after her last appearance in the studio – an absence that sparked serious concern among viewers until her co-host Craig Melvin revealed on Wednesday that she had been dealing with a ‘family health matter’. 

That same day, the Today anchor was seen picking up her older daughter Haley Joy, six, from school in New York City. 

Hoda was bundled up in a cozy white puffer coat and a knit hat while walking with her oldest child, who was happily riding her purple scooter alongside her. 

The mother-daughter outing marked the first time the journalist had been seen in public since her leave from the morning show. 

Kotb was dressed casually in skinny black pants and black platform booties for the afternoon school run. Instead of a purse, she wore a backpack over her shoulders, and she carried Haley’s cherry red L.L. Bean school bag in her hand. 

The mom, who also has a three-year-old daughter, Hope, held onto a plastic sandwich bag filled with Goldfish crackers, and she sweetly doled them out to Haley as she scooted down the sidewalk. 

The little girl looked adorable in a light gray North Face coat, star-print pants, and black high-top sneakers with velcro straps. She also had on her signature red glasses and a colorful helmet that featured rainbows and stars. 

Before Kotb picked up Haley, she was seen taking a phone call while she walked. She had on a cream knit hat and glasses, which she is rarely seen wearing. 

She later swapped her hat for a playful gray one with a pom-pom on top that has ‘Chow Time’ written across the front in white letters. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Kotb’s Today co-hosts finally addressed her unexplained absence from the morning show that has sparked concern among viewers. 

‘A lot of you have been wondering how [Hoda] is doing. We can tell you that Hoda is OK. She’s got a family health matter that she’s been dealing with,’ Craig Melvin said. 

Melvin, who was joined by Sheinelle Jones and Al Roker, did not share any other information about the health matter or who was affected. 

The update came just one day after Kotb’s co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, 51, disappeared from the morning show mid-broadcast after testing positive for COVID-19 for a third time on Tuesday. 

Jones, who had been co-hosting in Kotb’s absence, later explained on the show that Guthrie had gone home sick. 

‘Savannah left early. She wasn’t feeling great, so she took a COVID test,’ she explained. ‘It came back positive. As soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up. So Savannah, we love you. Wishing you a speedy recovery.’ 

Jones, Melvin, and Roker all sent their best wishes to their absent colleagues, who made history in 2018 when they became the first-ever all-female team to co-anchor Today. 

‘We look forward to seeing Hoda and Savannah back here at the desk very, very soon,’ Melvin said before Roker chimed in, ‘That’s right. We love you both.’ 

Kotb’s last appearance on-air was on February 17, although she was featured on a pre-taped episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna, alongside Jenna Bush Hager, on February 20.

People were also quick to notice that she failed to release an episode of her weekly podcast, Making Space, this week.

The TV personality has not yet publicly revealed her reason for being away.

However, the mother of two has continued to post inspirational quotes on her Instagram account, including one last week that said, ‘One day you will see just how brave you have been.’

She then shared another post that read, ‘”There are dark clouds,” said the boy. “Yes, but they will move on,” said the horse. “The blue sky above never leaves.”‘

A third message that was posted by Kotb over the weekend, stated, ‘Here’s to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.’

She also shared a drawing of a sky with clouds that said, ‘Choose hope,’ which she captioned with two heart emojis.

The Today star regularly shares inspirational quotes on her feed, and she has published a collection of her favorites in her books I Really Needed This Today and This Just Speaks to Me.

The past year has been a period of adjustment for Kotb, who split from her fiancé, Joel Schiffman, in January 2022, after eight years together. 

She announced on the show that they were going their separate ways, explaining that they decided they were ‘better as friends and parents than they were as an engaged couple.’

Kotb insisted at the time that there was no bad blood between them, and they continue to co-parent their daughters together. 

‘Joel and I have had a lot of prayer and meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we are better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,’ she said at the time.

‘So we decided we are going to start this new year on our new path as loving parents to our adorably delightful children and as friends. It’s not like something happened. They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. This was for a season.’

Kotb opened up about their breakup after Bush Hager pointed out that she wasn’t wearing her engagement ring. 

She admitted it felt ‘weird and awkward’ to talk about it publicly, but added that she wanted to focus on the ‘joyous moments’ they had together. 

‘A lot of women know what this feels like to be changing course in life I feel I can really breathe in this moment which is a strange feeling to feel. Sometimes in your life, you have to say the truth,’ she shared.