Natalie Morales May Replace Sharon Osbourne On ‘The Talk’ After Announcing ‘Today’ Exit

Natalie Morales is saying goodbye to her position as an anchor on the “Today” show on NBC and is expected to head to CBS to replace Sharon Osbourne on “The Talk.”

Osbourne left “The Talk” in March after defending Piers Morgan’s comments about doubting Meghan Markle’s mental health battle following an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Morales reportedly sent an email on Friday to NBC staff members to share news of her departure from the network.

“How do you begin to say thank you for 22 amazing years?” she wrote in the email.

“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!”

Morales began working at NBC in the 1990s as an anchor on the network’s Hartford affiliate WVIT-TV. By 2002, she was pulling double duty on MSNBC as an anchor and correspondent.

She landed a position as a national correspondent on “Today” in 2006 and replaced Ann Curry in 2011 as the program’s anchor. By 2016, she became the west coast anchor on “Today.”

“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,” Morales stated in the email to staffers.

“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.”

If Morales lands on “The Talk,” she will join current co-hosts Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots, Jerry O’Connell, and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila.

Morales is expected to continue appearing on “Dateline” for the rest of the year.