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Hoda Kotb reveals when she and fiancé Joel Schiffman will tie the knot

The best is yet to come for Hoda and Joel!
/ Source: TODAY

Hoda Kotb’s partner of six years, Joel Schiffman, popped the question last fall, and she said “yes!” And now we know when she plans to say “I do!”

As the TODAY co-anchor revealed during her recent chat with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s expecting that same season to be a big one this year.

Hoda Kotb and Ellen DeGeneres
Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman plan to say "I do" on the beach next fall.Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

“We’re planning it,” Hoda said. “I think we’re going to do it in the fall.”

And that wasn’t the only part of the plan she shared.

“I think it’s going to be super simple, like no big deal,” Hoda said of the ceremony. “We’ll bring some friends. We’ll probably be on a beach somewhere.”

That’s sure to be the perfect setting for the couple, who already have two children together (and room for another in their hearts). Perfect, because Joel proposed to her near the shore, too.

“One day we’re at the beach, and we were hanging out,” she recalled. “We had tequila and churros — I mean, I was fingers into the churros sauce — and Joel started to give one of his speeches. He likes to give little speeches about love.”

But she soon realized this one was unlike any other speech he’d delivered.

“He started talking and I was looking at him, and I said, ‘Oh, my God. This is going somewhere.’” She noted that he didn’t leave her guessing for long, as he “literally kicked the seat out from under him and dropped down on one knee.”

As she spoke to the talk show host, Hoda’s eyes teared up.

“I actually didn’t know I could love him more, but I did in that moment,” she confessed. “And I’ve felt different ever since.”

DeGeneres, who’s been married to wife Portia de Rossi for more than 11 years, assured her things will change even more after she walks down the aisle.

“When you get married, you’ll feel different again,” she said. “It is the most amazing thing. People think that it doesn’t change, especially when you’ve been with someone for a while. But being married is such a beautiful thing that we get to do, and it’s great. I’m very happy for you.”

Hoda smiled broadly and replied, “Thank you. I’m so happy, too.”

And we couldn’t be happier for her and Joel!