Hoda Kotb reveals she ‘couldn’t pay her bills’ during early days of her career

‘I know for years I was definitely making a fraction of what my male co-anchors were making,’ TV host says

Hoda Kotb has confessed that she struggled to pay her bills during the start of her career.

The TV host, 59, spoke candidly about when she first started working with NBC during an episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, which aired on 20 September. Her comments came while she and host Jenna Bush Hager were discussing how Vanna White reportedly received a pay increase when extending her contract with Wheel of Fortune.

During the Today episode, Kotb claimed that, throughout her time at NBC’s news show Dateline – which she worked on from 1998 to 2007 – she may have been “the lowest paid correspondent” there, as reported byPeople.

She also acknowledged that the pay inequality between men and women was “pretty clear at the time,” and recalled the concerns she had about being able to pay her bills.

“I remember thinking to myself: ‘I can’t pay my bills here,’” she continued. “I couldn’t pay all my bills at the same time. So I was like: ‘I’ll pay this one, and then pay that one.’”

Bush Hager then shared the lesson she wants her and Kotb’s children – specifically their daughters – to learn about pay disparity, noting that she wants them “to both be humble [and] to work hard” and to “not be afraid to ask for what they deserve”.

Kotb agreed with her co-host, acknowledging that women can have “grace and humility” while still asking for the salaries they earn.

“You can have grace and humility and still ask for what you deserve,” she said. “Both of those things can happen at the same time.”

She also recalled how it wasn’t always easy for her to ask for a raise, as she specified that she previously saw men in her field make more money than her.

“I think it’s one of the hardest things for women to do,” she said during the TV segment about asking for a raise. “I know for years I was definitely making a fraction of what my male co-anchors were making. I actually never asked because I didn’t want to be difficult.”

Kotb’s comments about her early career come days after Sony Pictures Television announced that White has extended her contract with Wheel of Fortune, taking her through the 2025-26 season. Her contract was initially expiring at the end of the current 41st season, which former host Pat Sajak announced earlier this year would be his last.

On 19 September, TMZ also reported that when White extended her time at the puzzled board, she received a “substantial pay increase” for her salary of $3m per year that she’d been making for nearly two decades. The publication also alleged that she hadn’t received a raise in 18 years.

The reported raise also came two months after TMZ claimed that White hired a lawyer in order to help with her demands to receive a raise. Her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, was allegedly involved in “very difficult negotiations” with Sony, so White could be paid at least half of what Sajak was making. According to the publication, Sajak’s been paid $15m for each season of the game show.