Hoda Kotb announces engagement on 'Today' show
Jenna Bush Hager, left, Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker showed their joy when Kotb announced her engagement to Joel Schiffman on Monday's "Today" show. Credit: NBC’s Today / Nathan Congleton
Hoda Kotb surprised her fellow "Today" co-anchors Monday with an on-air announcement that she and her longtime partner, Joel Schiffman, became engaged over the weekend.
"A friend of mine, a friend of ours, asked me to let you guys in on a secret," Kotb, 55, said excitedly at the desk of the morning show. "I'll give you her initials. Her initials are Hoda Kotb, and she's engaged!"
As her four castmates squealed in delight, hugged her and offered congratulations, Kotb explained, "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,' 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."
She added with understatement, "It was a fun weekend."
Kotb, who was previously married to tennis coach Burzis Kanga, has been in a relationship with financier Schiffman since 2013. She announced in October 2016 the two were moving in together. In February 2017, she adopted an infant daughter she named Haley Joy Kotb, who had been born on that Valentine's Day. Seven months ago, Kotb adopted a baby girl she named Hope Catherine Kotb. Schiffman has a grown daughter, Kyle Schiffman, who was born in 1996.
Just after 5 a.m. Monday, before breaking the news, Kotb had posted on social media, "Happy Monday! Good day for a fresh start xo," and graphical text reading, "And suddenly you know … it's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."
