‘Today’ Host Hoda Kotb Reveals Wedding Plans May Be Canceled Due to Coronavirus

Hoda Kotb and her fiancé Joel Schiffman aren’t “100 percent” sure they’ll be able to walk down the aisle this fall. With confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States continuing to rise and social distancing measures set to continue for an unknown amount of time, the Today show host revealed that her wedding plans may have to be postponed.

“We had the date scheduled and it’s in the calendar, we took care of the bookings and those kinds of things, so I think what we’re going to have to do is play it by ear, because I don’t know, I’m not 100 per cent sure what will happen as a result of this,” Kotb said during a recent interview with Daily Mail TV. Kotb and Schiffmanbegan dating in 2013 after meeting through mutual friends at a Wall Street event. After moving in together in 2016, with Schiffman helping to raise the co-anchor’s two daughters, Haley and Hope, Schiffman dropped to one knee and popped the question in November during a romantic Mexican vacation. Ever since, the couple has been in wedding planning mode, with the current date for their wedding set for the fall.

“I’m hopeful that we can keep our fall wedding date. But we’re open. I was just saying to Joel, ‘I don’t care where we get married. Honey I don’t care,’” Kotb said. “I’m happy to have a nice destination wedding or whatever, but I’m equally happy just to do it. This has kind of taught us all those things. Like really what’s the important part? As long as you can spend time with your family and friends, it doesn’t really matter where you do something like that or even when. So I’m hopeful that we’ll have our friends and family and whenever that day comes, Hallelujah, let’s do it.”

In past months, Kotb has given fans a few hints at what can be expected from her big day. Speaking on the Today show in December, she revealed that both of her daughters would be involved in the ceremony. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show just a month later, she said that she and Schiffman were planning a “super simple” beachside wedding.

“I think it’s going to be super simple, no big deal, we’ll bring some friends, we’ll probably be on a beach somewhere,” she said, according to PEOPLE. “And I can’t believe how different I feel since that moment. I thought we were in love and love is love, so what? But I did feel different the minute he proposed.”

As of Friday morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the globe surpassed 1.5 million, with fatalities climbing past 96,000, according to a Johns Hopkins database. There have been more than 466,000 confirmed cases in the United States, where deaths have surpassed 16,000.