Joel Schiffman and Hoda Kotb Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Hoda Kotb celebrated another trip around the sun with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, and their daughters, Hope and Haley, by her side.
“Thx for all of the wonderful bday wishes!!!!” Kotb, 60, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, August 10. “My party was perfect!”
Hoda noted that the only downside was her sister, Hala Kotb, “being home sick.” She added, “We missed you Hala — ❤️❤️❤️.”
Alongside the message, Hoda shared a sweet snap with her friends and family with festive balloons and decor visible in the background.
After Hoda’s loved ones sang to her, the Today cohost and Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, leaned in to blow out the candles. Schiffman was spotted recording the interaction and smiling. (Hoda and Schiffman adopted Haley and Hope in 2017 and 2019, respectively.)
Hoda previously shared a glimpse of her festive morning, kicking off the day at home with her family. “Great bday morning!! Lucky me xoxoxo,” she wrote via Instagram, alongside several pics including one of her opening presents with her daughters.
The birthday celebration comes over two years after Hoda revealed that she and Schiffman called off their engagement.
“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,” she said during a January 2022 episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna. “So we decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it kind of on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends.”
Hoda Kotb has often gushed about how her loved ones have defined her life — especially her daughters, Haley and Hope. The Today anchor became a mother when she adopted her little ones in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with her then-partner, Joel Schiffman. The former couple got engaged after six years of dating in 2019 […]
Hoda noted at the time that “it’s not like something happened” between her and Schiffman.
“They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason or a season or for a lifetime. And I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season,” she said.
Since going their separate ways, the pair have continued to celebrate one another, with Hoda giving a sweet shoutout to her ex on Father’s Day. “Happy father’s day to the best dad!” she wrote via Instagram in June, alongside a snap of Schiffman and their daughters on the couch.
As for her love life post split, Hoda announced in March that she has begun dipping her toe back into the dating pool. “I do have to say something, something did happen the other day that hasn’t happened in two years,” Kotb said during an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show at the time. “I had a date! I had a date.”
Months later, Hoda gushed that she was going on her third date with a mystery man. “I think it was just the kind of fun of talking about something that wasn’t kids and wasn’t work,” she said during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in May. “It was just life, and I missed that. And he’s really handsome.”
