How did Hoda Kotb's father die? 'Today' host recalls moment when her brother shared news of their father AK Kotb's death
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hoda Kotb, the famous news presenter at ‘Today’ expressed her emotions about her beloved late father AK Kotb. Days before this Father’s Day, the TV personality revealed on a special episode of ‘Dads with Hager and Kotb', that she lost her father when she was still in college. Hoda was studying at Virginia Tech and was at a sorority formal when her brother, Adel came looking for her, who used to be a student at the same university.
The 58-year-old host shared with her co-host Jenna Bush Hager, "And my brother runs in, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, my brother always said he was gonna crash Tri Delt formals, like he and his buddy did it. And he said, 'Come outside.' And I said, 'What?' He goes, 'Come outside, I need to talk to you, and I go, 'No.' I said, 'You need to tell me'."
How did Hoda Kotb's dad die?
Hoda shared that she lost her father AK Kotb to a heart attack. She still remembers how she learned about the unfortunate incident when her brother said, ''Dad had a heart attack, and he died.'' "It was like you couldn't even compute what was going on," remarked Hoda. She continued to explain that disturbing phase as she further stated, "And I played James Taylor on the turntable over and over and over and over until we went home that morning. And it's funny, it was the worst thing in the world, but I often look around where I am now and wonder." "You know you always want an 'attagirl' from your dad, you always want a 'you did it.' Throughout my career, I think there were probably a few spots where he probably would've said, 'Well good for you, you did it,' and then I would've been done,” as per Today.
'It left me with unfinished business'
Kotb further explained, "But instead when you don't have that 'attagirl,' you're like, I guess there's more of this mountain to climb, let's see, let's see, let's see. And you may keep pushing yourself for something that isn't coming, but at the end of the day it landed me in a beautiful place. Now I have a beautiful family, and all those great things happened as a result of it. So I think that event was really life-changing. It helped me in some ways, and it left me with unfinished business in others."
Kotb faced a health scare when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Her marriage also ended during the same time, "In this weird span of a week I found out that I needed a mastectomy, and at the same time I found out that the guy who I was married to was being unfaithful," she said at that time, before adding "And I literally was like, 'What is happening? What happened?' I didn't understand."