Hoda Kotb Reveals Why She Stopped Seeing an 'Extremely Handsome' and 'Lovely' Man After 3 Dates
Hoda Kotb knows what she wants — and doesn't want — in a potential romantic partner.
The Today star chatted about her love life on the Tuesday, August 20, episode of "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" podcast, revealing she's been on a few dates lately.
The mom-of-two — who split from ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman in January 2022 — revealed that after she went on a third date with a suitor, she broke it off because she realized they weren't in the same chapter of life.
"I did kind of decide in that space, because this person — who's a lovely human being — has a lot of kind of things that are being worked out that I think... I think what I'm looking for is more ... just simplicity," the author, 60, said.
"I think when you reach a phase — I was very much a fixer in life, you know, 'I'll help, I'll do it.' And then sometimes you're like, 'You know what? Let's just pause that instinct, because that is my instinct. I'll help. I'll make it better. What do you need? How can we do it?'" Kotb continued.
"So that has been tabled beautifully, like nothing funky. All good," the TV star noted. "He's very cute, by the way, extremely handsome. I'll show you a picture after."
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Kotb also revealed how she never spoke up for herself until around 2021, spilling, "All those years, all through elementary school, all through junior high school, all through high school, all through college, all through my early years of working, all of my dating, it was, 'Let me be what you need. Let me be what you need. What do you need? I can be that.'"
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Elsewhere in the chat, she touched on her breakup with Schiffman, 66, explaining, "I think a lot of people are probably in these situations: one person’s growing…or one person wants it this way, and one person wants it that way."
Fortunately, the two have stayed amicable as they co-parent their two daughters.
"Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we are 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," she announced at the time.
"It's not like something happened," the broadcaster insisted. "They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, a season or a lifetime, this was for a season."