How Hoda Kotb’s daughter Haley, 8, found out about mom’s breast cancer battle

Hoda Kotb’s 8-year-old daughter, Haley, found out that the former “Today” show anchor battled breast cancer by reading about it in her new book, “Jump and Find Joy.”

“I saw Haley reading my book, and there’s probably a lot of stuff in there that she doesn’t know,” Kotb, 61, explained on Tuesday’s episode of her former co-star Jenna Bush Hager’s “Open Book” podcast.

“She’s like, ‘You had breast cancer?!’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God! Oh, geez!’”

In 2007, Kotb was diagnosed with breast cancer, after which she underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She has since remained cancer-free.

Despite her shock to Haley’s discovery, Kotb is ultimately glad that it led to a “real” conversation.

“The fact is, I think we’re knowing each other as people, humans,” she said. “Not just mom or, you know, or kid.”

Kotb — who exited the “Today” show in January after 26 years on the air — admitted that she had been looking for a more “profound connection” with Haley and her other daughter, Hope, 6, whom she shares with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.

She said the move “did make space” for her to be more present and involved in her children’s lives.

“I keep reminding myself: Take it small,” she shared of the process. “Get all the conversations. Know your kids.”

After stepping away from the hustle and bustle of the NBC morning show, Kotb told People she realized that “there’s so much more to life.”

She confessed to the outlet in March, “I wasn’t able to bear witness to my kids’ daily lives because of what I was doing. I got to see Haley sing ‘What a Wonderful World’ at 9:15 a.m. — I would have missed that. I used to think life was the big things, but it really is all the stuff that happens in between.”

Two months later, the former TV host — who was forced to be absent from the “Today” show for two weeks in early 2023 while Hope was hospitalized — revealed that her youngest daughter’s Type 1 diabetes “definitely weighed in” on her decision to walk away from the program.

Right before her September 2024 retirement announcement, Kotb — who had just turned 60 — told Page Six that she felt “like this is the season of repotting and growth.”

“There’s this feeling that the roots are up in the air,” she noted at the time, “but then you land in this rich soil, and you’re like, ‘Oh, more room to grow.’”