See Hoda Kotb’s tearful Today Show retirement announcement after 26 years

Hoda Kotb is leaving the Today show next year.

Hoda Kotb tearfully announced on Thursday morning that, after 26 years on the air with Today on NBC, she’s going to retire.

As she wrote in a letter posted on their website: “I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while — Am I truly ready? But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited.”

Watch her tell the world on the air: