The Today show co-host Hoda Kotb can breathe easy now that her relationship with longtime boyfriend Joel Schiffman is all out in the open.
Only probably not in Paris.
The two jetted off to the French capital, the City of Love, over the Easter holiday.
"Oh my God, it was so fun. It was a whirlwind trip but it was gorgeous and romantic and beautiful," Kotb told E! News at The Hollywood Reporter's The 35 Most Powerful People In Media event in New York on Wednesday. "We were drinking the best coffees, drinking the best wines, everyone was smoking. It was like, awesome."
"You know when you're just walking around in plumes of smoke and for some reason, you don't complain about it? You're like, 'I love it here' and that's what we did," she said. "'Cause it's Paris! It's the way it's supposed to be."
Kotb also talked about the trip on the Today show. Her co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, joked to the audience, "That's why she's flying high...She had more coffee than wine."
In addition to romantic strolls and (smoky) cafe dates, the two also visited his daughter from a previous relationship, who is on a study abroad program in France.
Kotb and her beau have been dating for more than two years. Kotb revealed his name in January. The Today co-host, who was previously married for about two years to tennis coach Burzis Kanga, told E! News she feels liberated now that her new relationship has been made public.
"It's fun not to worry about it any more—and I don't," Kotb said. "We went there to see his daughter, who was going to school as a study abroad [student], so we had our tme together, the three of us. Joel and I had our time, just the two of us and, um, it does feel freeing."
Why did she keep her beau's identity under wraps for so long? Same reason many people opt not to talk about a new relationship.
"I guess you want to make sure it's the real deal before you say it out loud," she told E! News. "And now I know it's a real deal and I love it."
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