Hoda Kotb can’t walk away from those “Kelly Clarkson Show” rumors.
The former “Today” show co-host had a surprising response when asked on “Watch What Happens Live” Thursday about potentially taking over Kelly Clarkson’s eponymous talk show.
The journalist, who recently insisted speculation was “not true,” issued a far less vehement denial this time around.
“My whole thing with talk shows and all that stuff is that I’m a never say never person,” Kotb, 60, said. “You don’t know what life is gonna bring you.”
While the Daytime Emmy winner said she’s “having such fun with the ride that [she’s] on … at this moment,” she acknowledged that “TV is [her] first love.”
She cryptically added, “As I say in life, you don’t know.”
The former “Dateline” correspondent also gushed over Clarkson, 43, calling the “American Idol” alum “in a class all by herself.”
Page Six reported in April that the singer is considering leaving her NBC show — and New York City — when her contract expires next year.
“Kelly would like to spend more time down South,” a source told us, adding that daughter River, 10, and son Remington, 9, are the performer’s “number one priority.”
The following month, we heard Kotb was one of the names on a short list to potentially take over.
When Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin brought this up during Kotb’s “Today” show return, Kotb replied, “Delete. Delete. That’s not true.
“I want to ask you all a real question,” she continued. “Do you think that if I ever came back to TV … do you know the only place I would ever come back is? Right here, this is the spot.”
She stressed that “there is no place like home.”
Kotb exited the “Today” show in January after 17 years — and broke down the best options for her replacement on the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager on Thursday.
“Anybody would be so lucky,” she said, calling the “main contenders” Guthrie, Sheinelle Jones, Justin Sylvester and Scarlett Johansson.
