Hoda Kotb started off her Monday morning with some exciting news: She’s engaged to longtime boyfriend Joel Schiffman! The 55-year-old anchor surprised her Today show colleagues with the news on November 25.
Hoda shared the news of her engagement to Joel, 61, with Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker and Craig Melvin during the show. She spilled the beans about the romantic each proposal.
“I have to tell you something. A friend of mine, a friend of ours, asked me to let you guys in on a secret,” she began. “I’ll give you her initials. Her initials are Hoda Kotb, and she’s engaged.” Everyone reacted with joy and shocked as she flashed her brand new engagement ring. Savannah, 47, kept shouting “What?!”
“We went to our usual vacation, we ended up having a little dinner on the beach and we were done with the dinner, I was eating the churros, licking the bottom of the bowl and he was like I have something else I would like to say,” she explained.
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“And he said some beautiful things, and then he got down on one knee, and he said would you be my wife and I said yes,” the host revealed.
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Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
“My heart has literally been pounding,” Hoda confessed. “I was totally shocked. He had a good poker face.”
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Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
The two people they haven’t told yet are their daughters —
Haley, 2, and
Hope, 7 months.
They adopted the girls in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
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Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
Hoda said, “How are we going to explain, your parents are going to get married? We're still trying to figure out that part of how exactly to explain that to them.”
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Photo credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
The couple had been together for six years. In 2016, Hoda revealed that they had decided to move in together.
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Photo credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
“It’s a little weird to be in your 50s and we’re like ‘Hey, we’re moving in!’” she said on her radio show at the time. “It’s like we’re kids. It’s so weird.”
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Photo credit: INSTARImages
Hoda was previously married to Burzis Kanga from 2005 to 2007. Joel was also previously married and has an adult daughter, Kyle.
“And he said some beautiful things, and then he got down on one knee, and he said would you be my wife and I said yes,” the host revealed.
“My heart has literally been pounding,” Hoda confessed. “I was totally shocked. He had a good poker face.”
Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
The two people they haven’t told yet are their daughters —
Haley, 2, and
Hope, 7 months.
They adopted the girls in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
Hoda said, “How are we going to explain, your parents are going to get married? We're still trying to figure out that part of how exactly to explain that to them.”
Photo credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC’s TODAY
The couple had been together for six years. In 2016, Hoda revealed that they had decided to move in together.
Photo credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
“It’s a little weird to be in your 50s and we’re like ‘Hey, we’re moving in!’” she said on her radio show at the time. “It’s like we’re kids. It’s so weird.”
Photo credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Hoda was previously married to Burzis Kanga from 2005 to 2007. Joel was also previously married and has an adult daughter, Kyle.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
