Hoda Kotb.Photo:amie McCarthy/Getty
amie McCarthy/Getty
Hoda Kotbis 59!
Kicking off the tributes was her fourth-hour co-hostJenna Bush Hager, who shareda pair of photosfeaturing the two at work together. She accompanied the pics with a sweet message that read: “Happiest birthday to @hodakotb! I love sitting next to you (or standing in full snow gear!) You make my life more joyful every, single day! ❤️❤️”
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
Savannah Guthriealso celebrated Kotb witha heartfelt tribute of her own. Alongside a photo of the pair at work together, she wrote: “I think this was one of the first time we sat at this desk together - 2012? 2013?”
“It was magic then and it is magic now,” she continued. “So grateful to spend every morning with this phenomenal light of a human. Always learning, always seeking - happy birthday dearest @hodakotb.”
On a previous episode ofToday, Kotb told Hager about her birthday plans, which included a big family reunion with her mom, siblings, nieces and daughters.
“I have the same birthday every year,” theI Really Needed This Todayauthor said. “I love my birthday. We don’t do anything, we have balloons and we have a cake, and that’s it.”
Wednesday on air, Kotb showed Hager and Justin Sylvester her colorful birthday spread during avideo call from homeas Hager and Kotb’s substitute co-host called “the queen” to wish her a happy birthday.
After that, Kotb told her co-host, who’d treated her at restaurant the night before: “Jenna, I just want to say we had the best dinner on you — sorry about the bill, take out a loan!” Everyone laughed as Hager asked why Kotb left the dinner “before blowing out your birthday candles,” and Kotb confirmed she’d pulled “a Houdini.”
The trio closed out their chat with Hager adding, “We just wanted to tell you that we love you so much. We miss you. Enjoy every second with that beautiful family of yours.”
Hoda Kotb.
While Kotb edges closer to her 60s, her main focus remains Haley and her sisterHope Catherine, 4. Through her tenure onToday, Kotb has opened up about her motherhood journey.
Recently, Kotb got candid about her daughter Hope’s health struggles, havingstayed in the ICU and then the hospital for a little over a weekearlier this year.
“When your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out," Kotb said on an episode ofToday. “So I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful for my family and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”
“A rainbow to me represents something that you can’t quite touch, but it’s magical and amazing,” Kotb explained on an episode ofToday. “So when I thought about how I carry Hope in my heart, I realized, ‘She IS a rainbow.’ She’s this beautiful, magical, incredible child. It just got me thinking about all the things where kids find magic and hope, and this book is full of that.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Hoda Kotb and the ‘Today’ crew.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
TheTodayanchor then stuck around, belting out aduetof Twain’s crossover hit single “You’re Still the One.”
“Hoda, after all these years of knowing you, we’re finally going to sing together,” Twain reminisced before the two sang the song’s chorus.
source: people.com
