Natalie Morales To Leave NBC News – Deadline

Natalie Morales, longtime Today anchor and correspondent, told staffers on Friday that she plans to leave NBC News for an unspecified new opportunity.

Morales will continue to appear on Dateline through the rest of the year and will have a farewell on Today in the coming weeks.

Morales has been with the network for 22 years.

She wrote in a note to staffers, “To my Dateline and Today show families, it’s very hard to say goodbye… and we all know in this business it’s never goodbye but see you later. I’m eternally grateful for the support and deep friendships that will remain no matter where our paths lead.  I have so much to be thankful for and for every one of you who helped me get here… muchísimas gracias mis amigos.”

Today executive producer Tom Mazzarelli wrote in a note to staff that Morales has “been offered an opportunity she’s passionate about and has decided to step away from NBC News after an incredible two-decade career here.”

Morales joined Today in 2006 and went on to appear on other NBC News programs including NBC Nightly News and Dateline. 

After serving as an anchor and reporter for NBC News’ Hartford affiliate, Morales joined MSNBC in 2002 and was an anchor and correspondent for the next four years. She anchored Access Hollywood from 2016 to 2019. She has continued to serve as West Coast anchor for Today.

Her full note to the staff is below:

How do you begin to say thank you for 22 amazing years?  I struggle to find the right words and there are way too many people I need to thank for a wonderful career at NBC News.  I think back to my early days cutting my teeth at WVIT in Hartford, CT then taking the huge and – at the time- petrifying leap to MSNBC and alas— scoring the golden tickets to the Today Show and Dateline.  Never in a million years did I imagine this when I dreamed of what I wanted to be when I grew up!

This first half of my life has been one full of adventure, challenges, travel, way too many early wake up calls, and yes opportunities to witness history unfold and to tell inspiring and impactful stories that will always be in my mind’s highlight reel.  Speaking of that reel: I watched my family grow up along with so many of your own children, and as my oldest son gets ready to spread his wings and head to college soon, so too do I feel the time is right, (before the second half of my life) to spread my own wings and to pursue a new adventure.

To my Dateline and Today show families, it’s very hard to say goodbye… and we all know in this business it’s never goodbye but see you later.  I’m eternally grateful for the support and deep friendships that will remain no matter where our paths lead.  I have so much to be thankful for and for every one of you who helped me get here… muchísimas gracias mis amigos.

Natalie