Hoda Kotb was initially absent from 'Today' for her daughter's health scare and later for vacation during her kids' spring break.
Hoda Kotb was absent from the Today show on Friday morning after recently returning from vacation with her family.
Co-anchor Savannah Guthrie explained Kotb's absence at the top of Friday's show, saying, "Hoda's a bit under the weather. Good to have Craig [Melvin] along with us."
Kotb, 58, had recently returned to the NBC morning show this week after being out last week on vacation for her daughters' spring break.
It's been a rough few months for the journalist, who shared that her initial absence from the Today show back in late February and early March came amid her youngest daughter, Hope's, stint in the ICU and subsequent hospitalization.
"Little Hope had to go to the hospital and she was in the ICU for a few days and then in the hospital for another week and it was really scary," the mother of two shared at the time, without revealing what health scare had placed her 3-year-old daughter in the hospital. "She's vibrant and brilliant. She's home. She's home. She's home. I'm over the moon that she's home."
While Kotb has kept the details of her daughter's health private, she did give a message to parents of sick children at the time.
"For anyone who's ever gone through an illness with a child, boy, I thought I understood you, but I don't. I didn't," she said. "Until you're sitting in that position. For every single person who's going through some stuff, I get it."
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