Carson Daly is not ready for longtime collaborator Hoda Kotb to leave the company Today show.
Kotb, 60, previously announced on Sept. 26 that she would be leaving The Today show after the new year to focus on her family. She confirmed that she will remain at NBC in some capacity.
Before Daly hosted the Project Healthy Minds Gala on Thursday, Oct. 10, he spoke with PEOPLE and admitted he was “saddened” by Kotb’s eventual departure.
“Because selfishly, when she finally leaves, I won’t be able to see her every day. That’s the first thing,” he tells PEOPLE. He adds that “when you love someone… it’s like a family. It can’t be faked.”
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He jokes about the nature of the job and having to “go to work every day at that ungodly hour of the day.” Especially in that scenario, he says, it’s more useful to “like the people you work with.”
“When you really like the people you work with, it makes the shop so much more enjoyable. So that was my first thought,” she admits. “Then my second thought was that I’m so happy for her that she’s made a decision that’s better for her and her family and her life moving forward. So yeah, she’s the best.”
Hoda Kotb and Carson Daly on Monday, September 5, 2017.
Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
While Daly doesn’t have anyone in mind to replace Kotb — “There’s plenty of time to do that,” he says of finding a replacement — he says he’s more focused on celebrating Kotb’s work and impact on Today.
“We celebrate her and we’re glad she’s still in the building,” he says, adding that everyone “absolutely” just enjoys their time with her.
The pair have worked together since Daly joined the show as social media correspondent in 2013. He now serves as co-host/anchor. In the meantime, Kotb also joined Todayfour-hour broadcast in September 2007, before later co-hosting with Savannah Guthrie.
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Daly is not the only one Today the show’s co-host who has bittersweet feelings about Kotb’s imminent departure. Al Roker previously told PEOPLE at the Food & Wine Classic in Charleston on Saturday, Sept. 28, that he will miss her every day, but he completely understands Kotb’s desire to spend more time with her family.
“I’m so thrilled for her that I can’t feel any sadness at all,” he explained. “Look, I’m very happy because I watched my children grow up, especially when [my daughter] Courtney was younger. But [Kotb’s] had two little daughters. Those moments, those kids grow up, I mean, it’s a cliché, but because it’s true. It’s like you blink.”
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Al Roker, Carson Daly, Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on Friday, January 6, 2023.
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
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Kotb, who recently moved into a suburban home with daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 4, wrote a letter to NBC staff on Sept. 26 announcing her departure from the morning talk show.
That same morning, Kotb addressed viewers on air while sitting on a couch surrounded by her co-stars Roker, Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones.
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