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Kathie Lee Gifford to Leave the Today Show after More than a Decade on the Air

  • Kayla Koslosky

    Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket …

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  • Updated Dec 12, 2018

Outspoken Christian and veteran TV show host Kathie Lee Gifford announced Tuesday that she will be leaving the Today Show

After more than 10 years on the air, CBN News reports that Gifford has decided to leave NBC in April. A staff memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter announced the news saying, “Kathie Lee is generously staying with us through the show's next anniversary, April 7, 2019. We will have much more to share before then about our plans for that hour, which will, of course, continue to include Hoda.”

Gifford confirmed the report on the Today Show with her co-host Hoda Kotb. She said, “In 2008, I joined the Today show family intending to spend one year, but something unexpected happened along the way: I fell in love with a beautiful, talented, extraordinary Egyptian goddess named Hoda, and an amazing group of individuals who work tirelessly and joyfully at their jobs, many of them starting at midnight, creating an unprecedented four hours of live television."

She continued, "I stayed year after year making a million memories with people I will never forget. I leave Today with a grateful heart but I'm truly excited for this new creative season in my life. Many thanks to all the wonderful people who made the years fly by."

Kotb jumped in to tearfully thank Gifford for the time they have had together. She said, “The minute you stepped into my life with both feet, everything changed." 

She continued, "You chose me and that's how it started... Everything good that's happened in my life has happened since you came."

Gifford thanked God for their friendship saying, "I'm grateful to God for you. Grateful to God for you. God's used you in my life every bit as much as he's used me in yours. That's the way it goes," she said. 

Gifford noted that she is leaving the Today Show to pursue other projects but emphasized that she is forever grateful for the time she had on NBC.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Michael Loccisano/Staff

Video courtesy: Today