Hoda Kotb is a beloved TV host who is always able to relate to the people she interviews.
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The Today star was visibly emotional on Monday’s show as she opened up about her own experience with grief as she interviewed Wynonna Judd, whose mother Naomi Judd passed away in April.
Hoda herself has experienced the loss of a parent herself, with her father, Abdel Kader Kotb, passing away from a heart attack in 1986 aged just 51, while she was still at college.
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Wynonna told the news anchor that she was “somewhere between hell and hallelujah,” following her mother’s passing, to which Hoda understood only too well.
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Visibly emotional, the mom-of-two wiped away tears and said: “Pain comes in waves. Whenever I’ve suffered a loss, sometimes it comes like a tidal wave. And sometimes it’s calm and you almost forget.”
In June, Hoda paid a touching tribute to her late father on Father’s Day, alongside a black-and-white photo of them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CkGqUawSHQe/
A post shared by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@hodaandjenna)
Hoda Kotb had a relatable chat to Wynonna Judd on Monday’s Today
She simply captioned the post: “Happy Father’s Day dad.” Hoda has spoken out about losing her father on several occasions, and recalled the moment she found out he had died during a previous episode of Today.
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“It was like one of those calls in the night that you go, ‘Oh my Gosh,'” she said of learning the moment her dad had passed away.
She added: “He just led by example. He was someone who was such a hard worker. They [Hoda’s parents] came here from Egypt, you know, and they really made their life.”
Hoda with her mom Sammi who she is incredibly close to
Hoda also told Daily Mail in 2018 about how her father’s death influenced her to become a mother herself. “I think any older mom who says they haven’t done the math is probably lying. I’ve absolutely thought about it and what it means. What it means for the future. But my dad passed away when he was in his early 50s and I was in my early 20s…
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“I was a junior in college. It was sudden, and scary, and terrible. But the seeds he lay for me during those 20 years, remain with me today. The things he taught me are still a part of me now,” she said.
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