Hoda Kotb left fans “devastated” when she announced that she would be leaving The Today Show after 17 years at the beginning of next year.
Hoda’s sad departure from the show has understandably raised a lot of questions about who her replacement will be – and Hoda herself has now weighed in on who she would like to see standing next to her co-host and friend Jenna Bush Hager every morning.
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Hoda Kotb Weighs In On Her 'Today' Replacement
According to an October 25th interview with E! News, the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast host simply wants her replacement to have a special bond with Jenna, as she believes there is nothing more important than on-screen chemistry!
"The person who I want is someone who has beautiful chemistry with Jenna," the mom-of-two confessed. "That's all I want. Because it's never about either anchor, it's about what's between. So bring the chemistry."
The Hope Is a Rainbow author continued: "I don't care if it's her best friend, I don't care if it's someone she's worked with, if it's some celeb. When she gets in sync, that's it. If she has chemistry, it will be beautiful."
And it should be quite easy to decide if Jenna and Hoda's replacement will have chemistry, because Jenna herself is reportedly involved in the casting. Makes sense!
"She'll know, because the only way it's going to work is if they got a vibe or not," Hoda also said, adding: "Just the fun party vibe. It can't be forced."
Who Is Currently In The Running?
Akin to Katy Perry's American Idol replacement – who as we now know, is none other than Carrie Underwood – there are already a lot of names thrown into the mix. And Laura Jarrett's name has popped up a few times!
Laura recently filled in for Jenna on Today's fourth hour as a guest cohost, with an NBC insider reportedly telling Us Weekly back in September: "The big contender who everyone at the network is talking about is Laura Jarrett — she has a really strong chance. She's the anchor of Weekend Today; she is a lawyer like Savannah [Guthrie]. She's a darling at the Today show who has risen up very quickly."
Another option is switching things up, with the insider saying: "They could put Craig [Melvin] with Savannah, or they could put Sheinelle [Jones] with Savannah."
This seems to echo what meteorologist Dylan Dreyer told E! News, as she believes Hoda's replacement will be someone who is already familiar with the show in some shape of form. "I don't think if they named anyone in our core group of people it would be surprising," Dreyer speculated.
"We've all filled in along the way when somebody's out," she continued, adding: "I don't know if anybody's made any decisions yet, but if it's one of the core group, I really don't think it's that surprising."
