Hoda Kotb Guiltily Admits to Hiding From Her Kids in Her Minivan

Gotta do what you gotta do.

Hoda Kotb is seen on the NBC Today Show at Rockefeller Plaza on September 06, 2024 in New York City
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hoda Kotb has a very relatable busy mom habit.

Sometimes when she gets home, Kotb just isn't ready to go in and take care of all her responsibilities, so she will just hide out in her car, she sheepishly admitted to her Today With Hoda & Jenna co-host Jenna Bush Hager this week.

"Have I told you I love my minivan? I love it SO much," Kotb said, to which Bush Hager's first reaction was, "Have you gotten in there just to hide from your children yet?"

Kotb nodded guilty at this point, with her co-host asking her, "You hid yesterday, didn't you?"

"I did." She added, "I cased out my own house. I sat outside, and I didn't go in."

The reporter continued, "But I was in the car. So I was casing and waiting. Does that ever happen, where you're like, I have to get things done. The minute I go in, I can't do anything. ... I was just doing my thing, and then I went in."

Bush Hager has clearly been there herself, because she said, "You'll find yourself sitting in cars, listening to music, having just some alone time, and wait, you're like, 'Okay, maybe just one more song. One more song and I'll go.'"

Kotb agreed, "Sometimes you need that time. You reset, and then you're ready."

Bush Hager shares children Mila, 11, Poppy, 9, and Hal, 5, with husband Henry Chase Hager. Meanwhile, Kotb is mom to Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, whom she shares with her ex Joel Schiffman.

Hoda Kotb announced she was leaving Today this past September, effective early next year.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she explained of the decision.

"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."

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.