Friday, December 14, 2018

Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb reflect on their decades-long friendship

Kathie Lee Gifford’s announcement about her impending departure from TODAY brought out tears from coworkers and fans as did the idea of breaking up a decades-long partnership with the woman who also became her cherished friend.
Hoda Kotb paid tribute to that special bond Wednesday when Kathie Lee joined her colleagues to discuss her retirement from TODAY’s fourth hour, which she has co-hosted with Hoda since 2008.
“I always felt sitting next to you was like a master class in this broadcasting business, because nobody, nobody, nobody does it like you do it,” Hoda said. “Nobody ever has and nobody ever will. You are all by yourself. And I think everything is contagious. Your fearlessness is contagious.”
On Tuesday, Kathie Lee, 65, announced the “bittersweet” news that she would be retiring from the program on April 7, 2019 the 11th anniversary of her program. She explained she has been wanting to work on numerous passion projects for the past several years.
All these other projects have been bubbling up in me, and so exciting — the movies and music and just so many wonderful things. And I need the time for them to do them properly,” she told her TODAY colleagues Wednesday.
Kathie Lee said she informed her bosses nearly two years ago about her decision to leave, saying she wanted to step down from the job at her 10-year anniversary this past April.
“So that was the arrangement until we had some turmoil here in our midst,” she said.
KLG segment
Kathie Lee's on-air partnership with the woman she frequently calls her "Egyptian goddess" will be missed after she steps down in April.Nathan Congleton/TODAY
Kathie Lee said she was asked to stay a little longer and she agreed.
“I said, I don’t want to leave, I just have to do my other stuff. So I said if you guys can work it out for me, that I can still do my projects, I’ll stay,” she said. “And I was thrilled with that decision, but now there are like six other projects.”
This past April, Kathie Lee and Hoda celebrated a decade together with tributes from friends and celebrities they've had fun with over the years.

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