Jamie Lee Curtis reads Hoda Kotb’s emotional letter on the TODAY Show

Jamie Lee Curtis “can’t imagine TODAY without Hoda Kotb,” so she made sure to tell her on the show while reading a heartwarming note that had Hoda wiping away tears.

Curtis had sent a letter to Hoda’s house on September 28 after learning she would be leaving TODAY in January, but Hoda said it never arrived. Instead, Hoda had the note with her during the Oscar winner’s appearance on the show on Dec. 12.

“Can you read it because I won’t read it,” an emotional Hoda asked Curtis.

Hoda wiped away tears as Curtis read the short note.

“It says: ‘Hoda, the long and winding road. Wherever you go, my hand in yours. Bravo,’” Curtis said. “It was when you announced you were leaving.”

Curtis began the interview by expressing surprise that Hoda had decided to leave TODAY but remain in the NBC family.

“Here’s how we start: Say it ain’t so, Hoda,” Curtis said. “I can’t deal with this. I just can’t handle it. I just can’t believe this is the last time I’ll be here with you.”

Curtis said she was wearing a purple jacket because “Purple is a wound, so I have a wound on you today.”

The frequent TODAY guest, who stars in the new Amazon Prime Video series “The Sticky” with Emmy winner Margo Martindale and the upcoming film “The Last Showgirl” with Pamela Anderson, was effusive in his praise for Hoda.

“You are an absolute sweetheart and we will all miss you here,” Curtis said. “I can’t imagine this place without you.”

Hoda showed her appreciation for Curtis always being by her side.

“By the way, thank you so much for cheering on all the women, including me, Pamela and Margo and everyone else,” Hoda said.

Curtis also thanked Hoda for all her kind words at the end of the interview.

“I want to thank you,” Curtis told her. “You have truly changed this place, this house, this group of people who love you, and you are leaving for the right reasons.”

“And you will take us all with you, and whatever you do, know that you will have this family with you. But you’re a beautiful person and this show is better for you when you’re here.”

TODAY was the last emotional moment between the two. In January, Curtis Hoda and Jenna Bush brought Hager to tears on the fourth hour of TODAY with heartfelt comments about why people love coming to the show.

“I think what you guys are doing and what you’re offering here in this very intimate, yet very public world is – that’s why I think people love you and love listening to it, because it’s real,” she said said. “It’s not fake.”

In March 2023, Curtis sent teddy bears to Hoda’s daughters Haley and Hope after Hope fell ill. It came at a time when Curtis had just won her first Oscar for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

“And I thought, in the middle of her bright moment in her life, she’s sending something to me and my kids,” Hoda told Curtis TODAY at the time. “And I can’t tell you how touched and how beautiful I found it. And I just wanted to say thank you.”