Yesterday’s heartbreak is just tomorrow’s fresh start for “Today” co-host Hoda Kotb.
The television personality, 57,admitted that she’s keeping her heart “open” to dating following her recent split from Joel Schiffman.
“I haven’t really thought about who I would see myself with, but I do have to say something,” Kotb told People while celebrating the 70th Anniversary of NBC News’ “Today.”
“My sister even said and asked me at one point, ‘Are you afraid to be by yourself?’ And I said to her, ‘I’m not going to be by myself.’ And I don’t know why I said it so clearly, but I actually knew that my heart is open. I have an open heart.”
Kotb announced in late January that she and Schiffman, 64, were calling off their engagement and parting ways after eight years together.
Schiffman proposed to Kotb in 2019, but their marriage plans were put on hold due to COVID-19.FilmMagic“I wanted to address something that, I think a few of you maybe noticed. People have written in and asked why I wasn’t wearing my engagement ring,” the host said at the top of a Monday broadcast.
“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holiday and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple.”
Schiffman successfully popped the question to Hotb in 2019 — but their wedding plans were put on hold following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The former couple began dating in 2013 and share two adopted daughters: Haley Joy, 5, and Hope Catherine, 2.
“I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him,” Kotb said.Getty Images for Time“It’s not like something happened,” Kotb added of her split from the financier. “They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, for a season or for a lifetime and I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season.
“I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him,” she continued. “We’re both good, we’re both going on our way, and we’ll be good parents to those lovely kids.”
