Hoda Kotb and Her Partner Joel Schiffman Have Split After Eight Years Together

It’s a season of change for Today show host Hoda Kotb. The beloved news anchor announced on the daily morning show that she had split from longtime partner Joel Schiffman after eight years together.

Kotb and Schiffman started dating in 2013 and share daughters Haley, 4, and Hope, 2, whom they welcomed through adoption. The pair got engaged in November 2019, and Kotb decided to announce the break up after loyal viewers noticed she hadn’t been wearing her ring in recent days.

“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple, so we decided we are going to start this new year on our new path as loving parents to our adorably delightful children and as friends,” said Kotb.

“It’s not like something happened. They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, a season or a lifetime. This was for a season,” she told her co-host Jenna Bush Hager during the third hour of the Today show, which they headline together. Kotb previously shared the time slot with morning show legend Kathie Lee Gifford before her retirement.

Kotb also shared some lovely words about her former partner, who is a financier and an entrepreneur. “He’s a great guy. He’s a very kind and loving person and I feel privileged to have spent 8 years with him. We are both good and we are both going on our way and our path. We’ll be good parents to those two lovely kids.”

As for why she decided to share the news? The news anchor, also a breast cancer survivor, said she felt it was important to tell the truth and not just sink into optimism. She said this is especially true in an era of social media where we’re used to only sharing the joyous moments of life.

“I was struggling with this. But I feel like, often we share the joyous pieces of our lives — the engagement, and all the fun. I shared the adoption of my children and all the joy and all the beautiful parts,” she said. “And then the difficult parts sometimes, you just wanna forget about. You wanna erase them, you don’t wanna share them, ‘cause that’s not a part of a pretty picture.”

In the end, she feels as brave as every other woman who has been in her shoes: “I think a lot of women know what this feels like, in this moment, to be changing course in life. And I feel really brave in this moment, I really do, which is sort of a strange feeling to feel.”

We’re wishing all the best for Hoda Kotb and her family!