Hoda shared her reaction to the statement: "It was, first of all, one of the most beautiful statements," she said, "and it touched me deeply and it meant everything to me that you said that. You've had so many beautiful statements, and it touched me deeply. And it meant everything to me that you said that. And I know you inside and out, you know life is like that."
Both hosts became teary at the memory, leading Jenna to joke, "What is happening? We went from 'brutally honest' to weeping."
Hoda Shared Emotional Moment On TODAY After Daughter's Hospital Stay
Hoda, who is also mother to daughter Haley Joy, 6, took a few weeks break from TODAY to be with Hope while she was in the hospital this past February.
She has not disclosed the specific medical reason that led to Hope's stay in the ICU, but did tell TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie that health complications had landed her young daughter in the hospital. "My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for and then in the hospital for a little over a week," shared the Making Space host. "I’m so grateful she’s home, she is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely."
The 58-year-old mother-of-two ruminated on the feelings a parent can have when their child is very sick. "You know what I realized too, Savannah? It’s like, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out. So I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful for my family and I’m grateful [for] friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you."
Hoda adopted Hope and Haley Joy with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman after realizing that she wanted children late in life: "I was like, 'Oh my God, I do want to have children, right now. Here, in my current state.'"
The moment of "brutal honesty" between Hoda and Jenna came soon after the pair celebrated 4 years hosting TODAY with Hoda and Jenna together, a milestone marked with the observation, "You know what it is? I think when there is something that's real, you are not pretending...it's easy. You have to go through life and do things you have to do, but this is not that. This is the best."