‘Today Show’: Hoda Kotb Reveals She and Fiancé Joel Schiffman Have Split
Hoda Kotb just shared some news of her own on the Today Show. Talking with co-host Jenna Bush Hager on Today with Hoda & Jenna, the NBC journalist revealed that she and fiancé Joel Schiffman are going their separate ways after eight years together. The couple have two daughters – Haley, 4, and Hope, 2 – and plan on remaining friends.
Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman are taking a ‘new path’
During the fourth hour of Today, Kotb opened up about the decision to end her engagement to Schiffman.
“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,” Kotb told Hager and viewers, according to Today.com. “So we decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it kind of on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends.”
Kotb and Schiffman got engaged in November 2019, though their wedding plans continued to get pushed back due to the pandemic. Fans of the Today Show began noticing Kotb without her engagement ring, which prompted her to go public with their split.
“This is weird and awkward,” Kotb said of sharing her personal news. “I really was struggling with this, I was like, ‘What do I say, how do I say it?'”
‘Today Show’ star said relationship was for ‘a season’
Kotb noted that no specific incident caused their breakup, rather just a shift in their coupling that brought about some realizations.
“It’s not like something happened,” Kotb remarked. “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.”
The Today Show anchor described how she attempted to view her relationship in a positive light, yet came to the discovery that it wasn’t meant to be. Kotb was clearly relieved to have gotten the news out in the open.
“A lot of women know what this feels like … to be changing course in life, and I feel really brave in this moment, which is a strange feeling to feel,” she explained. “But sometimes in your life, you just have to say the truth… You can carry it and you can pretend. … Sometimes you realize optimism is like trying to put a circle in a square – sometimes it just doesn’t work, and it’s okay. To be able to acknowledge it …. I feel better that I said it.”
Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman are focused on co-parenting
Kotb and Schiffman adopted Haley in 2017, and Hope in 2019. The Today co-host spoke of Schiffman’s kindness and her gratitude for their time together, as well as making their two daughters a priority.
“He’s a great guy,” she said. “He’s a very kind and loving person, and I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him. We are both good and we are both kind of going on our way and our path. We’ll be good parents to those two lovely kids.”
