Hoda Kotb Feels ‘Very Peaceful’ Since Calling Off Engagement to Her Ex-Fiance Joel Schiffman
Fans of Today host Hoda Kotb were shocked when she announced she and her fiance, Joel Schiffman, had split after nine years together. However, the former couple continues to co-parent their daughters, Haley and Hope. Kotb recently revealed what their relationship is like today.
Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman’s relationship timeline
Kotb and Schiffman met in 2013 at an event where the Today host was a speaker. After doing a little investigating to figure out if he was single or not, Kotb emailed the financier. The two soon started quietly dating.
In 2015, the couple announced their relationship. They moved in together the following year.
“It’s a little weird to be in your 50s and we’re like, ‘Hey, we’re moving in!’ It’s like we’re kids,” she said (via Us Weekly) in 2016. Kotb added, “It’s been so long since I’ve lived with someone, I’m a little concerned with me — not him. Like, how I am, as a human? You know, it’s not going to be easy for poor Joel.”
In 2017, the couple adopted Haley. Two years later, they adopted another daughter, named Hope. That same year, Schiffman popped the question and Kotb said yes.
Kotb and Schiffman planned to marry in 2020. But the COVID-19 pandemic meant they kept pushing their wedding plans back. The couple, who had planned on a destination wedding, kept pushing the wedding date back. In 2022, they announced that they were no longer a couple.
Hoda Kotb calls the new co-parenting routine ‘very peaceful’
“It’s not like something happened,” Kotb said on Today, addressing fan comments about the absence of her engagement ring. “They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason or a season or for a lifetime. And I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season.”
However, even though Kotb and Schiffman are no longer a couple, that doesn’t mean they no longer speak. The pair continue to co-parent their daughters, and Kotb shared how smoothly the two have managed this new component of their lives, calling it “very peaceful.”
“[We] have it down,” she told People. “He’ll have a Saturday, and I’ll do the Sunday. We switch each week. He’ll take the girls and do some fun things, and I’ll take some quiet time. It’s a healthy mix, and the kids love it. He’s a great dad.”
“We’re very open about fixing things so that everybody’s needs are being met,” she continued. “He’s a great dad — but I also know I’m on the right road.” Kotb also opened up to give a little more insight into the couple’s breakup.
Does Hoda Kotb have any regrets about her breakup?
“Sometimes relationships evolve,” the Today host explained. She continued, “Sometimes perfectly nice people can go their separate ways. Sometimes a relationship ends on your last breath, and sometimes it ends before that, and that’s okay.”
“I don’t regret one day, not one minute, not one second of our time together because it brought me here,” Kotb concluded. “I have two incredible children I share with him. And it’s because of Joel that I have Haley and Hope, without question. I think I might have been too afraid to do it alone. That’s not something I love to admit, but it’s true.”
