Did Hoda Kotb Just Reveal She’s Changed Her Mind About Replacing Kelly Clarkson?

Martin Holmes June 6, 2025, 10:31 am

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In May, Hoda Kotb vehemently denied rumors that she’d be replacing Kelly Clarkson on her eponymous talk show if the singer leaves once her contract ends in 2026. But has she already changed her mind?

The former Today co-host appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Thursday (June 5), where an audience member asked about the speculation of her taking over Clarkson’s daytime talk show spot in the future.

“I feel like Kelly is in a class all by herself,” replied Kotb, who appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show as a guest on Monday (June 2) to discuss her newly launched, self-titled wellness brand. “My whole thing with talk shows and all that stuff is that I’m a never-say-never person. You don’t know what life is gonna bring you.”

She continued, “At this moment, I’m having so much fun with the ride that I’m on, but, you know, TV is my first love, so, as I say in life, you don’t know.”

This was very different from her answer to the same question from when she returned as a guest on the Today show Wednesday, May 28. When her former co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin asked about the rumors, Kotb said, “Delete. Delete. That’s not true.”

She went on to state that if she were to return to TV as a host, it would be back on the Today sofa. “I want to ask you all a real question,” Kotb told her former co-hosts. “Do you think that if I ever came back to TV… do you know the only place I would ever come back is? Right here, this is the spot. There’s no place like home.”

Hoda Kotb Breaks Silence on Rumors She's Replacing Kelly Clarkson

The speculation comes after Page Six reported in April that Clarkson was considering leaving her NBC daytime talk show, which is filmed in New York City, after her contract expires next year.

Meanwhile, Cohen asked Kotb who she’d like to see join Jenna Bush Hager as her new permanent co-host of Today‘s fourth hour. Kotb suggested Guthrie, Justin Sylvester, Matt Rogers, and Scarlett Johansson, whom she said “crushed it” during her guest-host stint.