Broadcast journalist and author Hoda Kotb stepped away from her role as the main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today earlier this year. In a recent interview, she disclosed that her desire to spend more time with her two daughters was the primary reason for her exit. She also revealed that her youngest daughter has Type 1 diabetes.
Hoda Kotb’s daughter has Type 1 diabetes, reveals host
Kotb disclosed in a new interview with People magazine that her six-year-old youngest daughter, Hope Catherine Kotb, is living with Type 1 diabetes. “It’s kind of constant care for Hope. We’re monitoring her 24/7,” Kotb explained, adding, “She was getting shots — four or five a day — every day for a year. Now she is getting them less frequently because we have some other means to get her what she needs.”
Kotb mentioned that while some children dealing with the condition can have sweets, Hope can’t. She continued, “If she’s up in the night, we have to take care of her at night.”
The TV personality noted that while Hope is a “happy, healthy, rambunctious, amazing kid,” they need to keep a close eye on her. She also detailed how Hope’s diagnosis played a role in her decision to leave The Today Show, before clarifying that it wasn’t the only reason for her departure. “But I would never, ever want Hope to one day grow up and say, ‘Oh, my mom left her job because [of me].’ It wasn’t that alone. But if you look at it cumulatively, it was a part of that decision,” Kotb elaborated.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune condition in which the pancreas either stops producing or produces very little insulin. Symptoms include constant thirst, increased urination, weight loss, and blurry vision.
Notably, Hope is Kotb’s youngest child with her former fiancé, New York financier Joel Schiffman. They also have an older daughter, Haley Joy Kotb, 8.
