Will Hoda Kotb Be Matt Lauer’s Permanent Replacement On ‘Today’?
Will Hoda Kotb be Matt Lauer’s permanent replacement on Today? The anchor has been sitting in for Lauer since she and Savannah Guthrie confirmed he’d been fired by NBC on November 29, and now sources are claiming that the TV personality has her sights set on holding on to the vacant chair on a more permanent basis.
According to reports, Hoda would “love” to take on Matt’s role full time and is allegedly hoping that NBC executives officially promote her to the slot.
“Hoda would love to get Matt’s job,” a source told Hollywood Life this week of how the star, who also co-hosts the fourth hour of the morning show with Kathie Lee Gifford, is supposedly hoping to become Lauer’s permanent replacement.
“She is a total team player and will do whatever is asked by the network,” they continued of Kotb, claiming that “sitting in the main seat on the biggest morning show on TV has been a dream of hers forever.”
“Hoda would be thrilled if her temporary status becomes full time,” the insider then added.
Notably, Kotb has been one of the names rumored to be in the running to take over for Matt since NBC fired him following allegations of sexual misconduct last week despite the anchor being on the show for the past 20 years.
Though the network haven’t officially spoken out regarding who they’re considering to take on Lauer’s former role full time, Entertainment Weekly claimed following his departure that NBC executives were looking for someone with a lot of journalistic and news reading experience to take over.
Kotb notably fits that bill, as she has a lengthy journalistic career which includes work on NBC’S Dateline, NBC News, and various local news stations in both Florida and Louisiana.
Hoda hasn’t publicly spoken out about potentially taking over for Matt full time, though she did express her sadness at the news after it was announced that Lauer would not be returning to the morning show after being accused of inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
Despite claims she and Kathie Lee were allegedly both “thrilled” and “incredibly relieved” to see Matt go, the two didn’t show any signs of drama with their former co-worker while discussing him on air.
Both Gifford and Kotb discussed their friend and the allegations made against him on Today last week, where Hoda confessed that she was completely shocked by the news but still loved her former co-star.
“You’ve loved someone so much and then you hear something and you go, wait, ‘what’?” she said. “It does take time and you can’t figure it out overnight.”
WATCH: “The processing is going to take a lot of time…” @hodakotb and @KathieLGifford on Matt Lauer’s termination from NBC News. pic.twitter.com/Qy1lnu1mYH
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) November 29, 2017
As for who else is alleged to be in the running for Matt’s role in addition to Kotb, Carson Daly has also been rumored to be gunning for the position.
Though the network has stayed pretty tight-lipped, Carson was asked by paparazzi if he’d be interested in taking over for Matt earlier this week but played very coy when asked if he could be taking on a more permanent gig.
Daly, who’s appeared as Today’s social media correspondent since 2013, didn’t deny that he could soon land the role, only telling TMZ cameras, “I’m not thinking about that right now.”
