Hoda Kotb has shared her secret weapon for getting her hair ready for TODAY in her latest glimpse at her morning routine in a quiet Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza.
The co-anchor gave a peek at her solitary preparation for the show in a pair of Instagram videos on Friday as many of her TODAY colleagues remain working from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first video, she wears a mask as she enters the snack room for a cup of coffee to help get her morning started, while noting that most of the doors remain open so that no one touches the handles. There also are hand sanitizer dispensers around the area.
After saying hello to a framed photo of her TODAY with Hoda & Jenna co-host Jenna Bush Hager, she enters her dressing room, where a sign lets her know the area has been cleaned and disinfected.
"So that's a little bit of the morning drill," she said. "Not much too it after all."
In another Instagram video, she shows off one of her favorite accessories: a hair dryer brush that also gives her a bit of a workout as she runs it through her hair.
"So the next part of the day is this thing," she said. "I love this thing. I call this abs and arms."
Hoda shows how she gets her hair looking sleek and ready to be on television.
"Usually I say it takes a pound of gel and a hammer," she joked. "Or this thing."
Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer And Volumizer Hot Air Brush
We should note that these products were independently chosen by the TODAY anchors. The anchors are not paid to mention them and are unaffiliated with these brands. The products are simply some of their favorite things.
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped dramatically in New York City since Hoda first gave a look at her solo morning routine back in March, only a few weeks into a pandemic that has now killed more than 130,000 Americans.
From hearing her footsteps on the eerily quiet streets of Manhattan to the sound of her voice echoing off the walls of a desolate Studio 1A, it was an introduction to an unsettling new normal that was summed up by TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie a week earlier.
"This show's been around a long time, 60-something years, but never has this happened before," Savannah said.