Natalie Morales will join CBS’ The Talk after leaving NBC, according to a source
Natalie Morales, a Today Show West anchor and Dateline correspondent, has been with NBC for 22 years.
Natalie Morales is leaving NBC’s The Talk to join CBS’ The Talk, a source confirms to PEOPLE.
The anchor and correspondent, 49, announced her departure from the network on Friday for “a new adventure.”
Morales will join fellow hosts Akbar Gbajabiamila, Amanda Kloots, Jerry O’Connell, and Sheryl Underwood on The Talk. The Daily Mail was the first to break the news that Morales would be appearing on the show.
CBS announced the departure of former The Talk host Sharon Osbourne in March, and Elaine Welteroth announced her departure from the daytime series after one season in August.
Morales, who will continue to appear on Dateline through the end of the year, wrote in an email to NBC staffers on Friday, “How do you begin to say thank you for 22 amazing years?”
“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.” she continued.
“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,” Morales added.
Morales began her career with NBC in the 1990s as an anchor and reporter for NBC affiliate WVIT-TV in Hartford. She joined MSNBC as an anchor and correspondent in 2002.
She joined TODAY as a national correspondent in 2006 and has remained with the show ever since. In 2011, she took over as the show’s news anchor from Ann Curry. In 2016, Morales began anchoring the TODAY show’s west coast edition. She also joined Dateline as an official correspondent last year.
Osbourne, 68, left The Talk earlier this year amid controversy over remarks she made on air during a conversation about Piers Morgan.
CBS announced at the time that “Sharon Osbourne has decided to leave The Talk,” adding that her “behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace.”
Welteroth, 34, was the show’s most recent co-host to leave, stating that she would “share my upcoming creative projects soon.” The daytime talk show The Talk announced Gbajabiamila’s arrival two days after she announced her departure.