Hoda Kotb wants Kelly Rowland to return to 'Today' after her 'walk-off' over alleged subpar dressing room
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Hoda Kotb has finally reacted to Kelly Rowland walking off the ‘Today’ show.
The co-host on Tuesday, February 20, brought up the subject while sitting next to Jenna Bush Hager, for whom the singer was supposed to fill in last week.
“I just want to say this: I have great love and admiration for Kelly Rowland. I adore her, and I want her to come back on our show, and I want her to host again,” Kotb said on ‘Today with Hoda & Jenna'.
Hager immediately joined in, and added, “Welcome anytime, She’s the best.”
“Of course she is, of course she is! She can share my dressing room. We’ll be in it together!” 59-year-old Kotb said with a laugh.
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Dressing room dispute
It was reported by PageSix, that the artist walked off the show after she was provided a good subpar dressing room.
“But anyway, I just want to say we love her. We’ve loved her on this show for many, many years,” Kotb continued.
A source reportedly told the outlet, “Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Kotb] without a guest host for the 10 am hour.”
The insider continued, “She’s beloved at ‘Today'. She was getting the full hour, and Hoda was the biggest hype woman on the planet! It made no sense.”
Rita Ora stepped up and filled in for Rowland
The producers of the show then reached out to Rita Ora, who was scheduled to appear on the show for an interview promoting the new season of ‘The Masked Singer'.
“On another note, too, we just wanna give a shout-out to Rita Ora, who kind of came in at the last second and really did a phenomenal job, so we have great women on this show,” Kotb said during the episode.
“I was gonna say, you’re not allowed. That’s your last day off for months and months and months,” the senior co-host joked.
“Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Kotb] without a guest host for the 10 am hour,” a source told the outlet.
