Hoda Kotb is opening up about the time Kathie Lee Gifford “threw one huge grenade” at her while live on the air. The TODAY show star opened up about her experience with her former co-host on Tuesday’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen when asked by one fan if any of her co-hosts had ever shared a story about her on-air that she wished they hadn’t made public.
“Kath did it, she threw one huge grenade once,” Kotb recalled of Gifford. “I was telling her that I was married once before and I met my husband on Valentine’s Day and I got the divorce papers on Valentine’s Day and it was Valentine’s Day.” (Kotb was previously married to Burzis Kanga from 2005 to 2008.)
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While sharing with Gifford how much she hated the romantic holiday in their makeup room, Kotb explained the personal reasons for her disdain before the two went out on stage for the day’s show. “We go out to the set. It’s all decorated with flowers and hearts and everything and I go, ‘Good morning! Happy Valentine’s Day!’ And she looks at me and she goes, ‘Not for you!’” Kotb recalled. “I go, ‘What are you doing?’ But I remember that grenade fell right on the table. I didn’t know what to do. I was so new, I didn’t know what to say. I go, ‘That was makeup room talk. That wasn’t for out here because we’re happy out here.’”
Kotb also opened up on Tuesday’s WWHL about her January split from former fiancรฉ, Joel Schiffman, after eight years together. “You want what’s best for your kids but I think you also recognize, I don’t know, I’m not sure every relationship is meant to go all the way,” Kotb said. “I think some are meant to be. I do like that, ‘For a reason, a season, or a lifetime.’ Sometimes people stay in something because they feel like they should and sometimes you just have to use your voice.”
The journalist is also open to having co-host Jenna Bush Hager set her up following the breakup. “Not yet, but I’m saying ‘yet’ because I actually think that Jenna’s got a really good track record with setting people up,” Kotb said. Bush Hager agreed, “It’s coming, but it has to be the right guy.”
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NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images)
