Laura Jarrett Guest Hosts on Today Show Amid Hoda Kotb Replacement Talk

NBC’s Laura Jarrett kicked off her week on Today alongside Hoda Kotb.

Jarrett, 40, filled in for Jenna Bush Hager on the Monday, October 28, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna. “Jenna is a little under the weather. All of her kids got sick,” Kotb, 60, explained at the top of the episode. “You cannot escape the germs. They’re in the house, so she’s taking a little break.” (Bush Hager, 42, shares three kids with her husband, Henry Hager.)

Addressing her replacement cohosts, Kotb added: “You worked Saturday, you had a little day off [on] Sunday, and now, you’re back again.” Jarrett cohosts Saturday Today with Peter Alexander.

Jarrett’s Hoda & Jenna guest host gig comes amid rumors that she will take over Kotb’s role as Bush Hager’s fourth cohost and Savannah Guthrie’s Today coanchor when she leaves the NBC morning show early next year. Kotb announced her decision to exit Today after 26 years working at NBC last month.

“The big contender who everyone at the network is talking about is Laura Jarrett,” an NBC insider exclusively told Us Weekly on September 26. “She’s the anchor of Weekend Today; she is a lawyer like Savannah. She’s a darling at the Today show who has risen up very quickly.”

Jarret joined NBC News in 2022 and replaced Kristen Welker as the cohost of Saturday Today in September 2023.

The insider noted that other Today personalities such as Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones and Carson Daly could also be up for the job. If Jarrett were to be named as Kotb’s successor, the source says “the big question” would be, “Who do they move to the weekend spot?”

While announcing her Today exit, Kotb explained that turning 60 and wanting to spend more time with her daughters — Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 — played a big role in her decision to leave the show. The NBC insider later revealed she has recently been “very focused” on wellness in preparation for her Making Space wellness retreat, which was held over the weekend at the Miraval Austin Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.

Kotb confirmed that her next career move will involve wellness on the Friday, October 25, episode of Hoda & Jenna, stating, “What I want to do is I want to live in wellness. I want to work in that space. I want to start things. I’ve got things that are percolating inside that I’m gonna, hopefully, have fully formed soon.”

Kotb gushed to Jarrett about hosting her first-ever wellness retreat on Monday’s episode of the show. “This thing hit all the boxes. It was everything. There were great speakers, there was meditation,” she stated. “There were all the things that I love.”

Kotb recalled how attendees each “came for different reasons,” adding, “I felt like, tremendous responsibility for it to be a great experience for everybody. And I have to say, myself having nothing to do with it, it was a great, great, great weekend for everybody. Nobody wanted to leave. … It was beautiful and loving and meaningful, and it really meant everything to me.”

Jarrett noted that the wellness retreat was something Kotb had been talking about “since I arrived at NBC.” She stated: “I have heard you talking about your vision for this, and to see you finally execute your vision on your vision [is great].”