Kathie Lee Gifford surprises Hoda Kotb on final 'Today' episode: 'You are so beloved'

"Today" was a "Kathie Lee & Hoda" reunion at 30 Rock.

On Friday's "Hoda-bration" on the first two hours of the NBC morning show, Hoda Kotb's former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford made a surprise return to the show to send her former partner in daytime and wine at NBC.

In a video tribute, she told Kotb: "You are so beloved. I hope you're feeling that from everybody." Gifford said she was tuning in from Tennessee and was sorry she couldn't make it, before pulling a bait-and-switch with Kotb's current co-host and appearing through the curtains.

Gifford left "Kathie Lee & Hoda" in April 2019 and was later replaced by former first daughter and longtime NBC personality Jenna Bush Hager, the publishing and literary heavyweight.

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"I fell in love with Hoda," Gifford said of her tenure on the show, calling her former co-anchor "sunshine in a bottle."

Gifford then offered a prayer for Kotb's next chapter as she joined Hager for a wine toast to the future.

On. Nov. 14, the longtime anchor announced that she would mark her farewell from the NBC show on Jan. 10. "That'll be the party day, so we're going to throw a party," Kotb said at the time. The same episode, "Today" announced that "Today Third Hour" host Craig Melvin would replace Kotb as Savannah Guthrie's co-anchor.

"I'm beyond excited and grateful," Melvin said on air. "I wanted to thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy … I have enjoyed just a lifetime of blessings, and this is the latest in a long line of blessings."

In front of the live studio audience Froday, Hager got the opportunity to share her own heartfelt farewell to Kotb.

"Endings can be hard and they can be so beautiful because it’s the start of something new," she said, as both women unsuccessfully attempted to hold back tears.

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Hoda Kotb bids farewell to 'Today' with 'love letters' to viewers

Kotb took some of the final moments of the first two hours of "Today" to turn the camera back towards viewers.

"This is not a goodbye letter, this is a love letter," she said, reading aloud a message she penned to viewers.

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Reflecting on what it felt like to "rip off the news corset" she once wore during her hard-reporting "Dateline" era, she thanked viewers for supporting her as she evolved and became herself on camera in "the ride of a lifetime."

Kotb has worked with NBC News since 1998, originally as a "Dateline" correspondent, and has served as co-anchor of the "Today" show with Guthrie since 2018.

"Along the way, you invited me into your lives, your triumphs," Kotb said over videos of fans celebrating big milestones like being cancer-free news or receiving a scholarship.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hoda Kotb gets 'Today' show Kathie Lee Gifford surprise on final day