Kelly Rowland ‘walked off The Today Show’ minutes before being due to host

The singer had been due to host the show’s final hour, only to walk off and leave bosses scrambling with minutes to spare.

Kelly Rowland attends Tyler Perry's Mea Culpa Premiere at The Paris Theatre on February 15, 2024 in New York City. Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Netflix

Kelly Rowland left TV bosses scrambling after she walked off the set of NBC’s Today show minutes before she was due to host the program.

The singer and former Destiny’s Child member abruptly left the set of Today With Hoda & Jenna over an issue with her dressing room on Thursday, when she was supposed to fill in for Jenna Bush Hager as a guest host with Hoda Kotb during the show’s hour-long 9am slot.

Kelly Rowland walked off the set of the Today show after being unhappy with her dressing room. Picture: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Netflix

The shocking walkout came after Rowland appeared as a guest during the show’s 8am slot and fellow singer Rita Ora ultimately stepped in to replace her as guest host.

“Kelly and her team were not happy. They did not like the dressing room, so they decided to pull her off the show, leaving [Kotb] without a guest host for the 9am hour,” a source told Page Six.

Rowland’s abrupt exit left Today bosses in total shock because “she’s beloved at Today”.

“She was getting the full hour, and Hoda’s the biggest hype woman on the planet! It made no sense,” a source said.

Dressing rooms at Today are known to be some of the smallest in the TV industry, according to Entertainment Today.

“They’re not nice. It’s the oldest building. There are major space limitations, [it’s] not glamorous. It’s not fresh flowers, and candles and gourmet food. It’s basically [a] white box,” said a TV source. “[The show] basically offered up as much as possible, but they weren’t happy with it, so they walked and they left.”

Ora later posted on Instagram, “Well, this happened! We had two minutes to prepare ahhh, thank you @hodaandjenna for asking me to co-host the show … Everyone was so lovely and kind, I had SO much fun doing it!! Love to everyone that tuned in, maybe we should do more??!!!”

She previously walked off the set of The Voice Australia in 2020. Picture: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

It’s not the first time Rowland has walked off a set.

Rowland walked off the set of The Voice Australia in the closing moments of an episode in 2020 after a disagreement with Guy Sebastian about two of his contestants.

Sebastian chose arguably the season’s most distinctive contestant, Mongolian throat singer Bukhu Ganburged, to take on teammate Johnny Manuel for a battle round performance. Rowland felt the pairing was unfair to Bukhu, given his specific skill, and seemed designed to showcase Johnny talents.

Sebastian labelled her “disrespectful” as she stormed off set.

Backstage, Rowland told Delta Goodrem at the time that she was prepared to “just let it go”.

“My feelings ain’t hurt, but this s**t is redundant,” she said.

Originally published as Kelly Rowland ‘walked off The Today Show’ minutes before being due to host