Hoda Kotb Is on the Hunt for Mr. Right! See the ‘Today’ Host’s Marriage and Relationship History
Hoda Kotb is on a mission to find Mr. Right! The Today host has been married and divorced once before but is looking for that special someone to spend the rest of her life with.
Hoda Kotb Was Married to Burzis Kanga
Hoda walked down the aisle with Burzis Kanga in 2005. They met at a fundraiser for the American Heart Association’s Valentine’s Day in New Orleans.
The NBC anchor and the tennis coach got married in Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, in front of their immediate family.
“We have been dating off and on for years. And of course, I had moved up to New York, but later we ended up connecting again,” she told New Orleans Living Magazine in June 2006. “He proposed last May, and we married in December. And married life has been great! We love just kind of knocking around New York, doing some Broadway plays, going out to eat. There’s a neighborhood bar that we like that plays soul music. If I would have known it was this much fun, I probably would have done it a long time ago!”
Unfortunately, their marriage ended in 2008. Hoda had been diagnosed with breast cancer one year prior to their divorce being finalized.
“I went through a divorce and breast cancer simultaneously, and I remembered in that time barely functioning, and I was thinking to myself, like, ‘Is this it? Is this how it goes?’” Hoda said during your episode of Today in October 2023. “I was thinking about some of my lowest moments during that time what was contributing to all of it was I was in horrible health, and I didn’t care about that piece of it, and you don’t realize how bad it gets and then you’re compounding it, your health gets worse, because you’re not well, and [it] went on and on.”
Hoda Kotb Got Engaged to Joel Schiffman
Hoda met Joel Schiffman at a Wall Street event in 2013. They kept their relationship under wraps for the first two years.
"I asked someone from the place — I asked, 'Will you find out his situation?’ Because I didn't know anything about him,” she said during an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2015. “I knew he didn't have a wedding ring, but that's all I knew. Then she emailed him and he emailed me and asked me out on a date."
In 2016, Hoda and Joel moved in together. The Hope Is a Rainbow author adopted her eldest daughter, Haley, in 2017. She adopted her youngest daughter, Hope, in 2019. The bestselling author and the businessman got engaged that same year.
Hoda and Joel never made it down the aisle, as they delayed their wedding several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She shockingly announced their breakup during an episode of Today in January 2022.
"Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we're 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 adorable, delightful children, and as friends," she told the audience at the time.
Hoda Kotb Began Dating Again After Her Breakup From Joel Schiffman
Hoda returned to the dating scene after her breakup from Joel. She revealed that she had been on multiple dates with a mystery man, whom she met through Today cohost Jenna Bush Hager.
"I had a great time ... I had a great time on our date. I loved it," she told Entertainment Tonight in March 2024. "There has been a second one already. Hey, that's how it goes... We'll have our third coming up. It's really fun."
