Hoda Kotb Reunites with Jenna Bush Hager to Take Over NBC’s New Year Special
After months of near-misses, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager will finally reunite on NBC’s two-hour primetime New Year’s Eve special A Toast to 2025, airing Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
Hoda and Jenna are getting the band back together. After a stretch of not sharing the screen, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager will reunite to co-host NBC's year-end primetime special, and the timing is exactly what you think: New Year's Eve.
The setup
The two-hour special is called 'A Toast to 2025!' and airs Wednesday, December 31, 2025, in primetime on NBC. The idea is simple and very NBC: the duo will look back at the big, buzzy, and feel-good stuff from the past 12 months with a parade of familiar faces dropping by.
NBC says the special will 'look back at the most unforgettable, buzziest and inspiring moments of 2025.'
A quick note on the framing: this is being billed as Kotb's first on-air project with Bush Hager since Kotb left 'Today.' The wrinkle is that Kotb has popped up on 'Today' multiple times since, just not with Bush Hager. PR math aside, if you've missed them together, this is the one to watch.
Who is popping in
- NBC News: Blayne Alexander, Andrea Canning, Dylan Dreyer, Willie Geist, Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Tom Llamas, Josh Mankiewicz, Craig Melvin, Keith Morrison, and Al Roker
- Sports and Olympians: Maria Taylor, Lindsey Vonn, and Johnny Weir
- Telemundo: Nicole Suarez
- NBC entertainment faces: Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila, Howie Mandel, David Alan Grier, Belissa Escobedo, Melissa Roxburgh and Sara Garcia, Josh McKenzie and Patrick Sabongui, Kristin Chenoweth and Jenn Lyon, and Chris Hardwick
- Peacock folks: Jabari Banks, Ariana Madix, Amaya Espinal, Tom Daley, Chris Sullivan, Chelsea Frei, and Tiffany Haddish
- Also appearing: Ethan Slater, Brian Baumgartner, Jim Gaffigan, Lil Rel Howery, Nate Jackson, Carson Kressley, Loni Love, Chris Mann, Bobby Moynihan, Tom Papa, Rob Riggle, and Wanda Sykes
All told, NBC is stacking the deck with news anchors, athletes, comedians, and talent from across its shows. It's one of the network's final swings of 2025, designed to send the year out with familiar faces and a lot of clips. If you like a tidy year-in-review with a heavy dose of NBC universe, this is exactly that.