Hoda Kotb’s daughters, Haley and Hope, joined their mom for a rare appearance on the “Today” show Wednesday.
“It is a special morning because my whole family is here,” Kotb gushed on “Today with Hoda & Jenna” after previously revealing that her loved ones were in New York for Thanksgiving.
Bush Hager noted that Kotb must “love” that her daughters, brother, sister-in-law and nieces were in Studio 1A, to which the longtime anchor nodded and said she does “love that.”
Later in the broadcast, Kotb, 59, and Bush Hager, 41, hosted a “Yuck or Yum” segment in which Haley, 6, and Hope, 4, each brought out various Thanksgiving-themed treats for the co-hosts to taste.
Haley was the first to strut out holding a platter with two dishes of ice cream. She smiled the whole time, and Kotb even spoon-fed her a bite of Baskin-Robbins’ Turkey Day Fixin’s flavor.
At first, Haley shook her head and declared the dessert a “Yuck” before smiling and flipping her “Yuck or Yum” paddle to the “Yum” side.
“Thank you, Haley!” Kotb and Bush Hager both said while the first-grader grinned and skipped off the set.
Hope was the next to slowly meander toward the stage holding a platter of chocolates that tasted like Thanksgiving dinner sides.
The little one wore a white sweater with dark jeans and sneakers and had her hair in a ponytail with a purple sequin headband and butterfly sticker on the top of her forehead.
“I like your butterfly sticker. It is awesome!” Kotb gushed while adding that Hope is “so good at delivering things.”
Kotb and Bush Hager did not like the chocolates, so they showed Hope the “Yuck” side of the paddle, to which she turned to the “Yum” side and everyone applauded.
“Hopey, love you,” Kotb said while Hope laughed and ran off the stage.
Haley and Hope eventually rejoined their mom at the end of the segment as they all smiled and huddled around the co-hosts.
“Here, you can take the paddle, and when your mom makes food, you can say, ‘No, thank you, Mommy, that’s yuck,'” Bush Hager told the girls while they giggled.
Kotb and Bush Hager closed out the show with all of Kotb’s family and signed off with Hope in Kotb’s arms.
Hope has not appeared on the “Today” show since she was hospitalized for a “really scary” medical ordeal in February.
Kotb has kept the exact details of the hospitalization private, but she did reveal that her youngest daughter was in the hospital for “more than a week” and in the ICU “for a few” of those days.
Kotb shares her two adopted daughters with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.
