Henry Winkler is going to miss Hoda Kotb.
At the start of his interview with Hoda and Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Oct. 15, the Emmy winner took a moment to gush about Hoda, who announced last month she is leaving TODAY, while also paying homage to how well she works with Jenna.
“Before I go any further, I want to say this,” Winkler began. “I know that a lot of people have sat here. There are a lot of guests that come through this show that you have been doing for a long time. You two make each guest feel like they are the only guest.”
Winkler then said he is sorry to see Hoda go.
“And I just want to say on behalf of my wife, Stacey, and I, we are going to miss you, as America is going to miss you,” he said. “Thank you for always making me welcome. The two of you have a chemistry that is going to be very difficult to fill. That is the truth.”
“Well, if you want a job, there’s one opening up,” Jenna joked.
“But I’m not kidding,” Winkler added about his comments. “There you go. I love you very much. You have always made me feel wonderful.”
Hoda announced on Sept. 26 that she realized when she turned 60 in August that it was the right time to leave TODAY.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”
Hoda, whose decision sparked an outpouring of tributes, has daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, with whom she said she wants to spend more time.
“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” Hoda said. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.
“And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world,” she added.