Hoda Kotb Busted Some Serious Moves on the 'Today' Show During Her Maternity Leave
Today show co-anchor Hoda Kotb made a brief appearance on Thursday morning's show via a video message.
Hoda shared a video to call attention to the new social media challenge "Dance or Donate."
Hoda has not yet returned to Today to co-host the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager.
It's definitely been a hot minute since Today fans saw Hoda Kotb — that is, until she shared a very important message on Thursday morning's show.
During a segment, Carson Daly revealed that Hoda participated in the new social-media charity challenge "Dance or Donate." The idea is to record and post a video of yourself showing off your best moves and challenge three others to do the same. If you don't dance, you're encouraged to give $10 to The United Cancer Front — but, of course, you can pitch in even if you do decide to bust a move. Lilly Tartikoff created the challenge in honor of her late husband Brandon Tartikoff, the late NBC Entertainment president who died of cancer 22 years ago.
To help spread awareness, Hoda shared a clip of herself celebrating her friend Leah Still beating cancer and challenging Savannah Guthrie, Jennifer Lopez, and Thomas Rhett to dance or donate. She then proceeded to jam to Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus's "Old Town Road" song.
You'll have to click over to Today.com to see the full video, but here's a fun snippet from Hoda's groove session:
We love watching our @HodaKotb bust a move for cancer research!
Record a video showing off your best dance moves for 15 seconds and challenge 3 others to #DanceOrDonate! Hoda’s challenging @savannahguthrie, @jlo and @ThomasRhett! pic.twitter.com/GpcHYgNPl5— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) July 11, 2019
Hoda isn't the only one busting a move for a great cause — though, she is the only one to ride an air horse so far. The Voice coach Kelly Clarkson also posted a fun video of herself participating, while tapping John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Shelton to #DanceOrDonate.
@LillyTartikoff challenged me to @dance4ucf for @unitedcancerfront, and I chose to dance and donate. Now I’m spreading the #danceordonate challenge to my fellow @NBCTheVoice coaches @johnlegend @gwenstefani and @blakeshelton. To donate, visit https://t.co/tIAYaOOgY2. pic.twitter.com/2ZDJNFjT3B
— Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) July 10, 2019
Hoda's video is one of the few updates Today has given since the co-anchor left in mid-April for maternity leave. This spring, Hoda and her boyfriend, Joel Schiffman, adopted a baby girl named Hope Catherine. Together, they also raise their 2-year-old daughter, Haley Joy, who was adopted in 2017.
Hoda was initially expected to come back in mid-June, but has yet to return. Meanwhile, Jenna Bush Hager is pregnant with her third child (it's a boy) and is expected to give birth in late July or early August.
('You Might Also Like',)
