Hoda Kotb Throws Playful Shade at Kelly Clarkson After Emmy Nomination

Hoda Kotb is in it to win it!

After the retired Today co-host was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award alongside her former co-host Jenna Bush Hager as the hosts of their show, Today with Hoda & Jenna, Kotb is hoping to bring home the former team’s first win. 

On Monday, July 14, Bush Hager and her guest co-host Ciara FaceTimed with Kotb to celebrate the news. Bush Hager, 43, joked that she and Kotb felt like “the Susan Lucci of Daytime Emmy hosts,” referencing the actress’ numerous Daytime Emmy nominations. 

“We’ve been nominated multiple times and yet we’ve never won, but to get to be nominated next to Hoda after the show is complete after we had our year together, our last year — which I know was really meaningful to me and I’m pretty sure it was meaningful for her,” Bush Hager explained. 

Kotb stepped away from the Today show and Today with Hoda & Jenna in mid-January to spend more time with her daughters Haley and Hope, as well as focus on her new wellness app Joy 101. The former co-hosts are currently up against fellow daytime hosts Drew Barrymore, Kelly Clarkson, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa, and Jennifer Hudson. 

Calling into Today with Jenna & Friends on Monday, Kotb cheered about the nomination. 

“Let’s go! Come on!” she called out. 

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Bush Hager seemed optimistic about their chances, telling Kotb, “Hoda, listen, we’ve never won one, but this could be our year. The last time’s the charm.”

“Let me tell you something, this is our last hurrah,” Kotb assured Bush Hager. “This is happening. Kelly Clarkson, who is what I’d like to say. No, I’m kidding. We love Kelly so much. We love her. But it’s our turn. As I’ve said to Jenna, we’re gonna go get her. G-I-T E-R.”

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Clarkson has won Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host every year since 2020. Coincidentally, it was briefly rumored that Kotb intended to replace Clarkson on her talk show after her Today exit. 

Kotb previously shut down the rumors while speaking to her former Today co-hosts in May, saying, “Do y’all think — I want to ask y’all a real question — do you think if I ever came back to TV, do you know where the only place I would ever come back to is?”

“Right here. This is the spot,” she insisted, shutting the rumors down, adding, “Delete, not true.”

She later changed her tune slightly on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, telling a fan, “I feel like Kelly is in a class all by herself. My whole thing with talk shows and all that stuff, I’m a never-say-never person.” 

However, Kotb has no intention of campaigning against Clarkson for the Emmy win this year. 

“You know the whole law of attraction,” she told Bush Hager. “Don’t chase him. No one runs for a bus they’re already on.” 

“Hopefully we’ll be in our little sequin outfits whenever the Emmy comes up,” Bush Hager noted. 

And Kotb wasn’t the only surprise cameo on Monday’s show. She also introduced her new cavapoo puppy, Waffles. 

“I am so in love with this dog,” the single mom gushed while cuddling up to the dog. 

“Hoda, I hate to say this, but you know how they say when dogs kind of look like their owners?” Bush Hager quipped as Kotb cracked up. “That dog has the same hair color as you.” 

“We’re twinning! We are totally twinning,” Kotb gushed. “She’s the best, you guys.”