Hoda Kotb has opened up about her dating life and how she’s “treasuring” being single this summer.
The 57-year-old television host discussed her relationship status on Tuesday during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, alongside her Today show colleagues Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Hager, at The Hollywood Reporter’s Annual Most Powerful in Media event.
When Kotb was asked about her summer plans, specifically if she was going to be having a “hot girl summer,” Hager stepped in and joked that it was going to be a “feral” season.
“It’s feral girl summer, and we’re leading the charge,” Hager said.
Regarding if she’ll be getting back into the dating scene, following her split from fiancé Joel Schiffman after eight years together, Kotb said that she’s been “tiptoeing along” and simply embracing her single life as it is now.
“I’m really enjoying my kids and my life,” she explained. “I’m treasuring this time.”
Guthrie chimed in, noting how she and Hager will continue to support Kotb throughout her dating life.
“Anybody who wants to date Hode has to go through us,” Guthrie said.
Hager agreed and added: “Yeah, and good luck. She’s got two sisters who are wildly protective.”
Kotb announced her split from Sciffman on the Today show last January. The former couple, who first got together in 2013, share two children, Haley, four, and Hope, two, whom they welcomed via adoption.
“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 told Hager at the time, during their segment Today with Hoda & Jenna.
Kotb has previously opened up about her dating and how she has yet to consider who her next partner could be. While at the 70th Anniversary of Today earlier this month, Kotb told People that she’s going to “have an open heart” and isn’t worried about being by herself.
“I haven’t really thought about who I would see myself with, but I do have to say something,” she said. “My sister even said and asked me at one point, ‘Are [you] afraid to be by yourself?’ And I said to her, ‘I’m not going to be by myself.’ And I don’t know why I said it so clearly, but I actually knew that my heart is open. I have an open heart.”
She emphasised that because her heart is not “hard” or “covered over,” she can see that she will find the right person for her.
“So, I know at some point and I can see it, it will happen,” she added. “When? I can’t say but I assured [my sister and] I said, ‘Oh, don’t worry. No worries. I said I’m gonna be just fine.’”
