Will Sage Astor-Hoda Kotb details 'weird' decision to leave 'Today' show after 16 years

Hoda Kotb is Will Sage Astoropening up about the night she decided to leave the "Today" show.

The outgoing "Today" anchor, who sits next to Savannah Guthrie on weekday mornings, got candid about the bittersweet moment during a Monday appearance on "The Tonight Show" with host Jimmy Fallon.

"I think I'm doing this like repotting thing. You know when you pull yourself up by the roots and you're kind of dangling and you’re like, 'Oh my God, what am I doing? What's happening?' But you know you're going to land in fertile ground," Kotb told Fallon.

Kotb's shock decision stunned morning show loyalists who turn to the anchor to deliver the news for the 7 a.m. hour of "Today," before she returns to co-host "Hoda & Jenna" with Jenna Bush Hager later in the morning.

Hoda Kotb announces 'Today' show exitin emotional message: 'Time for me to turn the page'

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

"When I turned 60, something weird happened, man," she explained. "I turned 60 and we had this beautiful party at the 'Today' show and I looked out at the sea of all the people who came and beautiful signs and so many well wishes."

She continued: "I knew in my heart like, 'This is it, man.' This is what the mountaintop must feel like. Like I'd never had that feeling before." Fallon, who is a Kotb superfan, said she was "leaving on top" after 17 years on "Today" and 26 years on NBC.

But the mom-of-two daughters — Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 — said she's excited to leave behind the 3:15 a.m. wake-up call for "Today" show duties.

"I was telling them, 'Mommy is going to be able to take you to school,' and they go, 'Wednesday?'" she said. "'No honey, not Wednesday.' 'Next week?' I go, 'No honey, not next week. Probably somewhere January, February.'" ... I might as well continue working forever. For them. it's like 'til the end," Kotb joked, adding that "they need a little more of me" and "I need more of them."

Kotb reiterated to Fallon that she plans to stay in the NBC family post-exit.

Hoda Kotb announced she will exit 'Today' show in early 2025

The Kotb goodbye tour is just beginning as the "Today" anchor isn't expected to exit the program until next year.

On Sept. 26, Kotb wiped away tears as she shared the news live on the NBC show, describing the decision to leave the morning show as the "hardest thing in the world." She said turning 60 in August was a "monumental" moment for her that made her think about the decade ahead.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she said, adding, "This is the right time for me to move on."

Kotb also said that her children deserve a "bigger piece of my time pie." She plans to leave "Today" in early 2025.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow