The 60-year-old journalist spoke with PEOPLE on the ‘Today’ Plaza after a massive televised ‘Hoda-Bration’ commemorated her final day:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/hoda-kotb-tout-071024-9eb86c3a1e8e41d497695fbda72c4819.jpg)
Hoda Kotb is feeling the love on her final day on the Today show.
The 60-year-old co-anchor exited the NBC morning show on Friday, Jan. 10, and was cheered on by fans from across the country, who came to the Today Plaza in freezing temperatures to share in the Hoda-Bration.
“This has been overwhelming, beautiful,” Kotb tells PEOPLE from the Today Plaza at Rockefeller Center. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like all of my dreams came to bear on this day. I’m looking around at my kids, my family, everybody who came out here this morning. I love you guys.”:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Hoda-Kotb-Gushes-Over-Final-Day-on-Today-011025-2-e44d03bdd5914ea19675ef3c94540928.jpg)
The longtime journalist, who has been with the Today show for 17 years, took the time to praise the crowd, who came out to cheer her on with posters, bracelets and gifts.
“I feel like every time I look out the window of the Today show there are people who have my back and they’re right here,” she says, motioning to the crowd. “I’m face-to-face right now, and it was beautiful and amazing.”
As for her feet on this milestone morning, Kotb says, “They’re definitely not on the ground.”
And though she passed on her “Morning Boost” segment on the morning show to pal Jenna Bush Hager, Kotb promises to share some of her signature love and light with her Instagram followers.
“I will give you a morning boost,” Kotb promises. “It’ll be on my Insta, and I’ll do it every single morning.”
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Kotb announced her decision to leave Today in late September, as she admitted in a letter to staff of the NBC morning show that her daughters “need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”
Despite stepping down from her full-time role on Today, she promised to “be around” and remain a part of the NBC family moving forward.
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While speaking with PEOPLE for her October cover story, the longtime broadcaster opened up about a new project she was looking forward to pursuing after her time on Today comes to an end.
The television personality noted she’s “still early on in the stages” of getting a “really good wellness app together and do wellness retreats and things like that.”
“I think it would be, number one, fun, and number two, helpful,” Kotb added.
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