Scarlett Johansson is making a pivot to hosting daytime TV — at least for the time being, as she temporarily co-hosts the “Today” show following Hoda Kotb’s departure.
The 40-year-old two-time Oscar nominee will guest co-host “Today with Jenna & Friends” for a week later this month, Jenna Bush Hager told People. The Marvel superstar’s gig will kick off Jan. 20.
“Scarlett Johansson is the queen! … We have so much in common,” the 43-year-old daytime show host said of the “wild dream.”
The pair’s similarities include both being “big reader[s], which will be so much fun,” as well as the fact that both are fraternal twins — Bush Hager with sister Barbara and Johansson with brother Hunter. Both are also moms to young daughters.
Bush Hager is mom to 11-year-old Mila. The “Lost in Translation” star, 40, shares daughter Rose, 10, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.
Johansson’s guest stint, while exciting for Bush Hager, is among many “bittersweet” changes coming to NBC’s legacy morning show amid her fourth hour co-anchor’s departure.
“I adore Hoda. She’s the best partner. She’s been the most generous partner, and we are truly really great friends, so the thought of her not being here is almost too much to bear,” Bush Hager told People.
Kotb announced in late September that, after five years of co-anchoring “Today,” she would be leaving. Kotb spent a total of 20 years at the show.
Referring to her tenure at the network as “the longest professional love affair of my life,” Kotb said she “realized it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new.”
Though “a painful” transition, Kotb concluded she was “making the right decision.”
Beginning Jan. 10, Craig Melvin will replace Kotb to co-anchor the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. slot of “Today” alongside Savannah Guthrie. Melvin, who has been at NBC News for over a decade, currently co-anchors the 9 a.m. hour.
Upon announcing the news in November, Kotb said that her 45-year-old successor was “literally made for this job.”