During Monday’s episode of Today, Hoda Kotb told the world that she and her fiancé have ended their engagement.
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She told Jenna Bush Hager that while she and Joel Schiffman have broken up, the two will remain co-parents to their two daughters.
“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,” said Hoda during the interview on Today.
Kotb said on Monday that she chose to address her relationship status because she had received many questions as to why she hasn’t been wearing her engagement ring.
Hoda and Schiffman got engaged in November 2019; however, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their wedding. Prior to Schiffman proposing, the two had been together for six years.
The two share daughters Haley, who turns 5 next month, and Hope 2, whom they adopted in 2019, two years after adopting Haley.
Kotb also said that she looks forward to both her and Schiffman continuing to be in each others’ lives as parents to Haley and Hope.
“He’s a great guy, and he’s a very kind and loving person, and I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him,” she said. “We are both good, and we are both going on our way and our path, and we’ll be good parents to those two lovely kids.”