Hoda Kotb may have left behind her Today cohosting job, but she’s got some strong opinions on who should fill her shoes.
Appearing on the Thursday, June 5 edition of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Kotb, 60, weighed in on who she believed are the top potential candidates to be her replacement alongside Jenna Bush Hager.
Kotb ended her 17-year run on the NBC morning show in January 2025, after which Craig Melvin replaced her as Savannah Guthrie’s news coanchor. Bush Hager, meanwhile, relaunched the show’s fourth hour as Today With Jenna & Friends and has been joined by cohosts such as Scarlett Johansson, Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, Amy Poehler, Dwyane Wade and more.
“Anybody would be so lucky. But to me, the contenders are Savannah, I think she would be great. I think Justin Sylvester is amazing,” she said on WWHL.
While Kotb agreed with Cohen, 57, that while it may be unlikely that Marvel star Johansson would be keen to fill the role fulltime, she was a big fan of how the actress performed as a temporary replacement.
“Scarlett Johansson crushed it,” Kotb enthused. “She said it was her favorite job.”
Kotb continued: “And Matt Rogers is great. And also our dear friend Sheinelle Jones who is going through a horrible time but I think she would be good. I feel like it’s whoever clicks great with Jenna.”
The TV personality also addressed the speculation currently circulating that she could be taking over The Kelly Clarkson Show after an audience member questioned her about it — but didn’t confirm or deny she’s set to have her own talk show.
“Are you talking about the Kelly Clarkson rumor? Okay. I feel like Kelly is in a class all by herself. I mean my whole thing with talk shows and all that stuff is. I’m a ‘never say never’ person,” Kotb said. “You don’t know what life’s going to bring you but at this moment I’m having such fun with the ride that I’m on. But that — TV — is my first love so as I say in life, you don’t know.”
Meanwhile, Bush Hager, 43, recently told Us it could take a while until the fourth hour of Today picks a permanent replacement for Kotb.
“We’re kind of stoked just living in the Jenna & Friends era,” Bush Hager exclusively told Us Weekly at Kotb’s Joy 101 launch event in New York City on May 28. “We booked — I can’t tell you who — but we have amazing people next week, amazing, and amazing people the week after. And then, we have our summer booked, so we aren’t quite there yet.”
