It’s been just over a month since Hoda Kotb bid The Today Show farewell and retired. However, she’s still staying busy by working on a Today follow-up with Joanna Gaines. Meanwhile, Today seems to be doing fine post-Kotb, with Craig Melvin taking over as co-anchor. Now, as ratings for the morning news program improve, how does the former co-anchor feel about leaving?

While Kotb has been a staple on Today for years, ratings seem to be doing just a tad better in the month since her retirement. According to Nielsen ratings, Today brought in 2.8 million total viewers and 698,000 in the 25-54 demo, passing Good Morning America for the week of Jan. 13 (the first week without Kotb). Allegedly, she is hurt about the improvement, as a source told RadarOnline:

Hoda was crushed when she heard that. She thought the outpouring of love when she left was proof she played a key role in the show’s success. Now she’s wondering if she was part of the reason they were always trailing GMA.

Kotb did give nearly 20 years of her life to Today, and seeing ratings improve right after she left could sting. However, it’s important to remember that this report is alleged.

That being said, it’s possible that fans simply wanted to see how the show is doing without her. Melvin isn’t a stranger to Today, but seeing him as an official co-anchor is new and exciting. Perhaps, people were tuning in to see the start of the NBC program’s new chapter.

The big reason why Kotb wanted to leave Today was to focus on her two daughters. Allegedly, being home full-time has changed her way of life quite a bit. Insiders claimed that Kotb isn’t getting dressed up as much anymore to have “fancy dinner meetings in midtown Manhattan” and is instead “running around in sweatpants and her hair up, picking up her kids from playdates.”

It should be pointed out again that this is all speculation, and it’s not confirmed that Hoda Kotb feels this way about leaving Today. It might just take a while for her to really settle into this new chapter of her life. She could always stop by Today every once in a while too, maybe even join her former co-host Jenna Bush Hager on Today with Jenna and Friends as a guest host. That would certainly be fun!

Today has said goodbye to anchors before, so this isn’t anything new. However, while the show seems to be doing just fine in this new era, it’s also probably been hard for everyone to get used to this massive change. With that being said, as we learn more about the show and Kotb’s life outside of it, we’ll be sure to keep you updated. In the meantime, you can watch Today as it airs every day on the 2025 TV schedule on NBC.