'Lonely' Hoda Kotb 'Begging Former Fiancé Joel Schifman for One More Chance' As Part of 'Desperate' Bid to Get Romance Back in Her Life
Kotb and Schiffman got engaged in 2019.
Jan. 23 2025, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Hoda Kotb is looking for love again, now that she is out of a job, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The former Today show host, who is still friends with former fiancé Joel Schiffman, is reportedly hoping to ignite the spark between the two once more.
The couple spit three years later.
Sources have told RadarOnline.com the 60-year-old mother of two, whose last day on the morning show was Jan. 10, has not been able to move on since her split from Schiffman in 2022, and still carries a torch for the 66-year-old financier.
An insider revealed: "There's a tenderness between them and that's nice. But what she wants and craves is the intimacy of being a couple.
"That's what's missing at this time in her life. She's tried to find it elsewhere, only to be discouraged."
The insider added Kotb's recent dating life has been a disaster.
The source said: "She realizes no one has the magic touch quite like Joel."
Kotb is looking for love again.
Over the holidays, Kotb shared a photo posing with Schiffman. The two looked cozy in matching pajamas with their daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.
The insider admitted the host wants the feeling to last longer: "Sleepovers are fantastic, but they're innocent as can be, and she's grasping for more."
Friends say it's fine if Kotb wants one more chance with her ex, but no one wants to see her desperately begging for love.
"Hoda wants it all," the insider said. "The family, the husband, and marriage. But she's willing to dial it down if Joel comes back to her.
The ball now seems to be in Schiffman's hands, but he's not giving any clues as to how he feels.
"Clearly Joel isn't rushing back into a more serious relationship with her at this stage. And her pals don't want to see her hurt and disappointed," the insider explained.
Late last year, Kotb gave her biggest hint yet as to why she and ex-fiancé Schiffman called it quits.
She said in an interview: "I think when people are growing at two different paces it's hard to be in sync."
The journalist called her ex of eight years "a great human being" and "one of the best people" she knows.
She added: "And I feel like I’m a pretty great human being, but sometimes two great human beings together isn’t quite enough to make it work."
In the interview, Kotb emphasized she is now single and confidently ready to mingle, stating she knows her "dream partner is coming."
She said: "So many things have taken so much time to show up in my life, and I don't mind it one bit."
Kotb said her newfound confidence stems from a shift in self-perspective, telling her fellow talk show host she is finally herself "for the first time in her life."
Kotb is living the single – and unemployed – life.
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Because of the shift, Kotb explains, her future partner will be "meeting the real her" and "not the version (they) might want, or not the version I’ll twist a little bit to fit (their) needs or what is appealing to (them)."
She said: "This is who I am, and I feel like once you get there, your heart rests. You're like, ‘Oh, this is what it feels like.’ So when I close my eyes and see it, I see it."
Speaking of physical preferences, Kotb emphasized on The Jamie Kern Lima Show those are a low priority.
Kotb said: "I don't see his face. It’s not like I'm like, ’I want XYZ.’ I don't even care about XYZ, tall, short, bald, not bald. I don’t care. But I know the essence and I can sense the soul of that person."
