Hoda Kotb Gives Big Update on Her Dating Life

Hoda Kotb is back in the streets…of dating. Two years after ending her engagement to Joel Schiffman, the Today Show staple is back in the game. While appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she opened up about her first date. “I do have to say something, something did happen the other day that hasn’t happened in two years I had a date. I had a date,” she told the American Idol winner. Kotb and Schiffman split just ahead of the holiday season in 2022. At the time, the now 59-year-old never expected to be single again, especially with two young daughters she and Schiffman adopted together In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE Magazine on co-parenting and single motherhood, Kotb told them shortly after the breakup that she was “doing really well,” and felt “very peaceful.” But she admitted to some woes as well.

“Sometimes relationships evolve. Sometimes perfectly nice people can go their separate ways. Sometimes a relationship ends on your last breath, and sometimes it ends before that, and that’s okay,” she said. But there were no hard feelings. “I don’t regret one day, not one minute, not one second of our time together because it brought me here. I have two incredible children I share with him. And it’s because of Joel that I have Haley and Hope, without question. I think I might have been too afraid to do it alone. That’s not something I love to admit, but it’s true.”

Kotb and Schiffman share daughters Haley and Hope. She’s a cancer survivor, so adoption at a later age in life is something she considered a blessing due to her previous struggles. She’s also been married before. 

Kotb says the recent date wasn’t too extravagant. She described it as simple, but seemingly has hope for her love life.