Hoda Kotb was touched to learn she was a part of Jenna Fischer’s breast cancer recovery journey.
“After my surgery, I’m, you know, recovering, I watched the Today show,” Fischer, 50, told Kotb, 60, during an interview on the Monday, October 21, episode of Today. “I got up out of bed and I sat on the bench at the end of my bed with a cup of coffee and my big ole pillow, and I would watch you and Savannah [Guthrie] and Jenna [Bush Hager] and all the fellows.”
Fischer said she knew Kotb was the person she wanted to share her breast cancer story with if given the chance. “I know that there’s a lady right now who’s sitting on a bench at the end of her bed with her pillow, and she’s wondering, ‘What’s next for me?’” she stated. “And I just want to be, like, ‘No. You’re gonna get off that bench just like I did. You’re gonna get your life back. You’re not even gonna believe all the beauty and wonder that is ahead of you through this journey.’”
Fischer’s sweet story sparked an emotional response from Kotb, who is also a breast cancer survivor. The anchor smiled while placing her hand on her chest and appeared to wipe away tears during her conversation with The Office alum. (Kotb was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2007 and was officially cancer-free later that year.)
Fischer’s sit-down with Kotb on Today marked the first time the actress has opened up about her health since revealing her breast cancer battle via Instagram earlier this month. She was diagnosed with stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer in December 2023 after receiving a “routine mammogram” she had been putting off.
During her Today appearance, Fischer recalled breaking the news to her kids, son Weston, 13, and daughter Harper, 10. “I wanted them to know that any ways that I seemed sick during this process were side effects of treatments,” she said. “They weren’t cancer making me sick. They were side effects.”
She also praised her husband, Lee Kirk, for his support through her health troubles. “A typical morning for us would be both of us getting up in the morning and making school lunches and doing school drop-offs,” Fischer explained. “But under the circumstances, the most I could do was just get downstairs and sit at the table with a cup of coffee, and he did all the rest.”
Another person in the know about Fischer’s breast cancer battle was her former The Office costar Angela Kinsey, with whom she cohosts the “Office Ladies” podcast. “From the beginning, she said, ‘Whatever you need, you tell me. I’m here,’” Fischer gushed. “And I said, ‘I want to keep working and I don’t want anyone to know at work. But at work, I want that to be a space where we go and we laugh and I’m not a cancer patient. I need that.’ And she said, ‘OK.’”
When Fischer began to wear baseball hats with wigs attached after losing her hair, Kinsey, 53, also started wearing hats so Fischer wouldn’t feel alone.
Twelve rounds of chemotherapy later, Fischer is cancer-free. She told Kotb that battling cancer has given her a new look on life. “All of the most important things became so clear so quickly. And also, I’ll say, I find the world to be such a beautiful place in all of its quirkiness,” she said on Monday. “Even things that used to irritate me, now, I sometimes find charming, like, you know, just traffic.”
