TODAY’s Hoda Kotb honored her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman in the sweetest way on Father’s Day.
On Sunday, June 19, Hoda posted a snap of Joel posing with their two daughters, Haley Joy, 5, and Hope Catherine, 3 in the middle of a craft.
She left a sweet and simple message in the caption to Joel, which read, “Happy father’s day!”
The co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna also shared another touching post for Father’s Day this year. Earlier in the morning, she shared a sepia-toned throwback photo which featured her late father who passed away at age 51 in 1986 when she was in college.
“Happy father’s day dad,” she wrote in the caption, adding a red heart emoji at the end.
At the end of January, Hoda announced on TODAY that she and Joel had called off their engagement and split up, but would remain co-parents to their two young daughters. The couple initially got engaged in November 2019 after six years together, but their wedding was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hoda said that after having many conversations over the holidays, she and Joel came to the decision that they were better suited to be friends and parents than a couple, explaining, “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.”
Last month while celebrating the 70th anniversary of TODAY in New York City, Hoda opened up to People about the idea of dating again, telling the outlet that she wasn’t shutting the prospect down.
“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.”
In the meantime, Hoda is “treasuring” the single life and spending time with her two daughters.
When asked by Entertainment Tonight at the The Hollywood Reporter Most Powerful People in Media event in New York City last month if she would be enjoying a “Hot Hoda Summer,” TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager replied, “It’s a feral girl summer and we’re leading the charge!”
Hoda clarified that her dating life at the moment was “tiptoeing along,” adding, “I’m really enjoying my kids and my life. I’m treasuring, kind of, this time.”