Hoda Kotb Agrees To Let Today's Jenna Bush Hager Set Her Up One Year After Joel Schiffman Split

Today's Hoda Kotb agreed to let her co-host Jenna Bush Hager play matchmaker nearly a year after her split from fiancé Joel Schiffman. Here's what they said during their cute exchange.

By Amy Lamare Oct 04, 2022 10:21 PMTags
Watch: Hoda Kotb Announces Split From Fiance Joel Schiffman

Jenna Bush Hager wants to play matchmaker for Hoda Kotb

The Today co-hosts touched on Hoda's dating life while chatting on air about a New York Times article "Dating is Broken: Could Going Retro Fix It." One of the retro ways mentioned as a fix is the old fashioned set up, so naturally Jenna offered, "I want to set you up." Hoda was game and immediately answered, "I want to be set up." 

"What?! I have chills," Jenna said. "That is a challenge that I am going to go for."

Hoda announced she was single back in January, sharing on Today that she'd split from her fiancé, financier Joel Schiffman after eight years together.

Now Hoda is explaining why she's ready and willing to have Jenna set her up, saying, "Because you know me and I trust you. If you didn't know me, even if we were anchoring and pretending, then I wouldn't say yes, but you do know me."

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Hoda Kotb's Sweetest Moments With Her Kids

Jenna replied, "I have chills. I have a lot to do."

Hoda mused on how it's different meeting someone on a dating app versus being set up.

"I understand the philosophy behind it. If you go on a date on an app, 10 minutes into the date, you can just end it," she said. "If you're with someone, same vibe, but your friends set you up, you might say 'Maybe there's a reason that she thought this guy would be good. Let me just be curious. Let me ask more questions. Let me not get turned off quickly and say, well, that's out.'"

Jenna then remarked, "I've got a lot to do. I've got to go, I've got to go!"

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Back in January, Hoda gave insight on the reason behind her split after viewers had been writing in and asking her why she wasn't wearing her engagement ring.

"It's not like something happened. They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, or a season or for a lifetime," she told Jenna at the time. "And I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season."

The former couple is committed to co-parenting their two young daughters, Haley, 5, and Hope, 3.  

"He'll have a Saturday, and I'll do the Sunday. We switch each week," Hoda told People in August. "He'll take the girls and do some fun things, and I'll take some quiet time. It's a healthy mix, and the kids love it."

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