Nathan Congleton/NBC (2)

Kaylee Hartung is not quite ready to accept the fact that Hoda Kotb is actually leaving the Today show. 

In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Hartung — who joined the NBC morning show as a national correspondent in January 2023 — said she “can’t imagine the Today show world without her.”

“The very first day I walked on the Today show set, [Kotb] jumped out of her chair and gave me a hug,” Hartung, 39, recalled. “It just made me feel so at home. The Today show was always the show I dreamed about being on. I watched it when I was a kid growing up. It was the one that made me want to do any of this.”

Hartung added, “To actually feel that warmth from her on Day 1, I was like, ‘Ah, this is everything I’ve ever wanted it to be.’”

Related: Hoda Kotb’s ‘Hoda & Jenna’ Will Rotate Cohosts as Replacement Not Named

Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb’s official replacement for Today With Hoda & Jenna has not officially been named. In addition to helming the early news broadcast of Today, Kotb, 60, also leads the fourth-hour show with Jenna Bush Hager. Kotb, however, will leave the broadcast channel in early 2025 and the show will reconfigure the Hoda […]

Kotb, 60, made the emotional announcement that she is leaving the Today show in September –her last morning as co-anchor coming on January 10, 2025, after which she will be replaced by news anchor and third hour co-host Craig Melvin.

Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush Hager and Kaylee Hartung Nathan Congleton/NBC

Despite Kotb’s full-time exit from Today, Hartung expressed optimism about the beloved host’s long-term plans at NBC. 

“She’ll still be around doing special pieces and all of that,” Hartung said. “I think everyone will be thrilled whenever she’s able to be a part of things again. Her energy is so beautiful.”

Co-host Savannah Guthrie announced Melvin as Kotb’s replacement on Thursday, November 14. The former MSNBC anchor’s official start date is Monday, January 13, 2025.

“Everybody is so excited for Craig,” Hartung gushed. “I’ve known him for a long time and I just see how hard he works. That’s gonna be a ton of fun, too.”

Hartung, who is also a sideline reporter for Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football, will be in Cleveland on Thursday, November 21 to cover the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, which kicks off at 8:15 pm ET. 

In announcing her Today show exit, Kotb expressed how turning 60 years old in August helped influence her decision.

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“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said live on-air. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”

Kotb is mother to daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, who also factored into things. 

“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” Kotb explained at the time. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”