This Law & Order Star Just Offered to Fill Hoda Kotb’s Spot on Today

Hoda Kotb Tearfully Announces She’s Leaving the Today Show Early Next Year

Mariska Hargitay is more than happy to take on this task.

The Law & Order: SVU star recently reacted to Hoda Kotb announcing that she would leave the Today show in early 2025.

“I love you so much and I’m so proud and inspired by you, and was so excited to see you today,” the actress told Hoda and co-host Savannah Guthrie on Today Oct. 1. “And I’m so grateful to be able to say that.”

“When you made your decision, I said, ‘Yes,’” Mariska gushed. “And, my gosh, I grieve for all of us in this country who’s gonna miss you, and most of all, [Savannah].”

The Emmy winner even offered to take over Hoda’s anchor duties, telling the co-hosts she was “happy to step in anytime.”

Mariska—who kicks off her 26th season as Olivia Benson on the procedural drama Oct. 3—also noted her and Hoda’s similar work anniversary. “We’re 26 years together baby,” she said, referring to the journalist’s 1998 start at NBC as a correspondent on Dateline. “And we’re 60 together, baby.”

Hoda, who turned 60 in August, cited her milestone birthday as one of the factors that influenced her decision to leave Today.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she revealed on air Sept. 26. “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.”

Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images

She also expressed her desire to focus on her family, namely her daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

“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,” she said. “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.”

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