Oprah has been busy. That pretty much goes without saying, because Oprah is always busy, right? She's currently on a nine-city tour across America as part of her 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour. But she stopped by the Today show to visit hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, which was thrilling for one main reason. Hoda is the biggest Oprah fan ever, and somehow, the two had never crossed paths until now.
Hoda finally got to sit down with her idol, and it was an emotional and adorably sweet moment. Oprah walked into Studio 6A and gave Jenna and a teary-eyed, incredibly excited Hoda each a hug. Hoda literally could not stop smiling when Oprah walked over to hug her. "It's happening! It's happening!" Oprah said. As the audience cheered, their mutual joy was absolutely infectious. Hoda seemed like she couldn't even believe she was finally meeting her idol. She wiped tears from her eyes and was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least.
Jenna had only just revealed to Hoda that Oprah would be coming live on the show a few days earlier.
It was an incredibly joyous moment when Oprah walked out onto the stage of Studio 6A. Hoda was crying and couldn't stop wiping her tears. First, Oprah gave Jenna a hug, then she made her way over to Hoda.
"You manifested it!" Oprah was saying, as she gave Hoda a hug. You could feel the energy in the room. There were tons of tears, and the audience was up on their feet. "All I wanted was this moment," Jenna said, pointing back and forth between Hoda and Oprah.
Oprah, knowing just how big of a moment it was for Hoda, got out of her chair and gave her a second hug. Then, like magic, tissues dropped from the ceiling, and Hoda took a handful before opening up to Oprah, her idol. Hoda took the opportunity to tell Oprah just how she felt.
"I feel like I've been in this business 100 years," Hoda said. "And you know when people say 'you mean so much to me' but they've never met and I guess it's always a little bit weird, but this is really one of those moments for me, so thank you."
"Thank you, thank you," Oprah replied.
It was truly so touching, but Oprah really wanted to know why she had such an impact on Hoda, which made it even more meaningful. "Tell me why," she asked. "You watched over the years?"
"Yes, yes," Hoda replied. "I watched over the years. I watched you lift people up. There's only a handful of people you want to emulate in our business." She went on, "And I watched you like hold people's hearts in your hand, and I remember thinking like, 'How does she do that?' and you did it in such a way that was tender and real."
Hoda continued, "And the fact that you're sitting here on this day is really kind of blowing my mind. I mean, I'm 55 or 56, nobody knows. But it doesn't matter; it just goes to show that the kid in you is still in you when you walk through the door."
The audience was feeling the love the whole time. They were still on their feet, applauding the beautiful moment. Finally, Hoda asked them to sit down. There was definitely so much emotion in the room.
Finally, Jenna asked Oprah about her tour. "Are you feeling as inspired as before?" Of course, in typical Oprah fashion, she talked about just how inspired she was feeling. "I'm feeling even more inspired," she shared.
"We come together with this one goal to be well, to be better for ourselves, for our families. And I think there is unity in this common goal to do better in our lives. So I think that we're all still rising to the best of ourselves. And that's what I figured out," Oprah said.
It was definitely a very special interview, especially for one person in particular: Hoda Kotb.
