Rita Ora replaced Kelly Rowland as the guest host of Today With Hoda and Jenna on Friday, February 16, with only a moment’s notice.
“Well, this happened! We had two minutes to prepare ahhh, thank you @hodaandjenna for asking me to co-host the show,” Ora, 33, wrote via Instagram later on Friday. “Everyone was so lovely and kind, I had SO much fun doing it!! 💗💗💗 Love to everyone that tuned in, maybe we should do more??!!!”
Ora was originally booked as a guest on the Friday broadcast, scheduled to discuss her upcoming stint as a judge on The Masked Singer and her next album. She would have been interviewed by Hoda Kotb and Rowland, filling in for anchor Jenna Bush Hager.
Multiple outlets reported earlier on Friday that Rowland, 43, had an issue in the dressing room and abruptly left the New York City set. She was interviewed in an earlier hour of the NBC morning program and advertised as hosting the third hour with Kotb. The Destiny’s Child alum has not addressed the incident. Us Weekly reached out for comment.
Today also did not mention the scandal on the air, remaining focused on Ora’s appearance and covering the news. The last-minute hosting switcheroo was not the British pop star’s only change of the day.
“Can I just talk about this? I cut my hair at 7:00 this morning,” Ora quipped. “I just had a real thing. Me and my hairdresser were like, ‘Let’s just chop my hair off’ and now, I’m here hosting the show with you. What is my morning? I guess for this!”
She continued, “I didn’t even know this was happening, honestly. Everyone watching: This has been so much fun and they asked [me] backstage and I was like, ‘I love Hoda. Can I do this?’ And so here we are, now we’re with you for a whole hour.”
Ora cited “jet lag” as her last-minute reason for chopping off her long locks into a short bob.
“Well, I woke up this morning thinking I was just going to have an interview with you … and I just wanted a fresh start in 2024,” she explained. “Dimitris [Giannetos], who does my hair [for] me, was just like, ‘Let’s just chop it off,’ and then we put some color in it and now we’re here … in two hours.”
Ora primarily lives in New Zealand with her husband, Taika Waititi. They wed in August 2022, publicly confirming their nuptials one year later on their first anniversary. They also split time in Los Angeles and London.
