Natalie Morales Announces Departure from NBC News

Dateline and former TODAY Show anchor Natalie Morales has announced her departure from NBC News after 22 years.

Variety reports that Morales broke the news to NBC staffers on Friday, stated that Morales plans "to spread my own wings and to pursue a new adventure." She is expected to continue with DEADLINE through the end of the year and will receive an on-air farewell from THE TODAY SHOW within the next few weeks.

Original joining as a new anchor in 2002 at MSNBC, Morales was appointed as news reader on THE TODAY SHOW in 2011. Since then, she had relocated to California to take on Access and west coast assignments from TODAY. She joined Dateline in 2020.

"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," she told staffers in the memo reported by Variety.

NBCUniversal has not yet commented on what is next for Morales.