Hoda Kotb Shocked To Learn NBC’s Paris Olympics Coverage Will Feature A Live “Hoda-Cam”: “Whaaaat?”

Hoda Kotb and her Today co-anchors Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, and Craig Melvin will soon be traveling to Paris to cover the 2024 Olympic games, but Kotb was not expecting one major development in their coverage: NBC will be featuring a “Hoda-Cam” to capture her live reaction to the games.

Variety reports that Kotb’s “surprise was palpable” when she learned the news.

“Whaaaat?” she said in shock.

The Hoda-Cam will likely feature Kotb’s dramatic reactions to watching the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, whom she has been praising for weeks leading up to the games, among other exciting Olympic moments.

Kotb, who has become a veteran Olympic broadcaster during her time at NBC, acknowledged to Today that she’s known for being “a cheerleader for Team USA.”

“[Gymnastics is] my favorite sport, except for I can’t watch it because I’m like, ‘Oh, God, don’t look. Don’t. Tell me when it’s over! Tell me when it’s over! Did she stick it?’ Then everyone’s screaming. ‘She made it!’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I missed that moment because I couldn’t bear to watch it.’ But sometimes it’s too much to bear. You get all freaked out,” she said.

NBC reportedly has several plans in place to liven up their coverage of this year’s Olympic games. This will be the first Olympics with a larger crowd of spectators since the coronavirus pandemic barred families from attending the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

According to Kotb, watching the Olympics is like “watching lives change right before your very eyes.”

Regarding being the resident “cheerleader” for Team USA, she said, “That’s my role in life. Not just at the Olympics. That is the role that I have always played and and have loved it ever since I was a kid. I love to cheer someone on, like, ‘You got this.’ I feel like I’ve always believed if you have somebody in your corner, you can make it. You don’t need everybody. You just need a couple. So, I want to be that ‘couple.’”

This year, Kotb and Guthrie will be covering the opening ceremony Friday (July 26) and will highlight major moments together during the Today morning broadcast.

“If you saw somebody win the gold last night, chances are you’re going to see them on our set. We are their first stop, right off the medal podium,” Guthrie said. “It’s a moment in time where we get to be Team USA. We don’t hide our patriotism or joy to see our athletes.”

However, Roker and Guthrie will reportedly be leaving Paris early to meet the U.S. athletes and their families for a special “reunion” at NBC’s Today studios.

If viewers can’t tune in on NBC, they will also be able to catch some of their coverage on social media, as the team will be traveling with a social media producer for the very first time.

NBC holds the broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games through 2032 after agreeing to a $7.75 billion contract extension with the International Olympic Committee in 2014 after a bidding war between NBC, ESPN/ABC, and Fox Sports.