Hoda Kotb had an emotional on-camera reunion with her former co-host Jenna Bush Hager on Wednesday, May 28.

The longtime friends and former co-anchors of Today with Hoda & Jenna shared the sweet moment four months after Kotb, 60, stepped down from her role on the morning show in a move that shocked her NBC family at the time.

Returning to the newly named Today with Jenna & Friends, Kotb shared some updates from her time away from Today and reminisced about old times with Bush Hager, 43.

“Is this weird, you’re in a different seat,” Bush Hager asked Kotb. “I moved over. I can’t remember why, but I did.”

Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb on May 28.

And before the pair’s discussion even truly began, Bush Hager was in tears, admitting, “I knew this was going to happen. I told [my producer] I was going to cry before I even opened my mouth.”

As the pair discussed Kotb’s life since her January departure from the show, Kotb raved about Bush Hager, saying, “Can I just say before we start that Jenna Bush Hager, you have been literally crushing it since Jan. 12 or whenever my last day is. I’ve been watching you every single day. You’ve been incredible. You’ve been crushing it, crushing it, you really have been.”

Bush Hager added that despite their months apart, it felt natural having Kotb back in the co-host seat.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on ‘Today with Hoda & Jenna’ on Jan. 7.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

“You come back and it’s like we haven’t even spent the day apart,” she told her friend. “And I miss you, and I’m so happy for you.”

The tears kept flowing for Bush Hager as she continued to receive compliments from her former co-anchor.

“Being next to you right here feels like breathing to me,” Kotb told her. “It always has and it always will, no matter how long I live, this place and this space between us is sacred. I love you.”

Wiping away tears, Bush Hager quipped, “You know I haven’t cried in six months. I thought my heart was crusted over. I’m so glad to know I still have feelings.”

Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and Hoda Kotb on ‘Today’ on May 28.

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Kotb visited Today to discuss her new wellness venture, the Joy 101 app, which she announced in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. 

“It was actually Jenna Bush Hager. She said, ‘Why don’t you try something? Why don’t you try a breathworks class?’” Kotb recalled while speaking with Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin earlier on Today. “And I was like, ‘Girl, I have been breathing a lot longer than you have been alive.’ So I didn’t even get it. She was like, ‘Just try it, just try it.’ And in the middle of this breathing class, I exploded into tears. I literally freaked out, but I also felt clarity and calm and energy. I felt clear.”

She gave Bush Hager the credit during Today with Jenna & Friends, saying, “It is 100% because of you.”

And while she was sad to leave her Today family, Kotb opened up about being excited to devote more of her time to her daughters Haley, 8, and Hope, 6.

“I thought to myself, I wasn’t able to bear witness to my kids’ daily lives,” Kotb told PEOPLE.