KOT ON CAMERA
Hoda Kotb shows off her rarely-seen daughters Haley, 5, & Hope, 3, to viewers on live TV during New Orleans trip
HODA Kotb let the good times roll with some special guests while broadcasting from New Orleans on Thursday - her two rarely seen young daughters.
During Thursday's episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, three-year-old Hope and five-year-old Haley were welcomed to the show by their proud mom.
5
5
"I brought my daughters, you want to come say hi?" the 57-year-old announced as the toddlers were brought over.
"I just want to say, these two girls are gonna fall in love with the city just as I have over the years," she continued. "So thank y'all for welcoming them."
According to the show, Thursday was the first time the girls have been to New Orleans.
It was also Hope's first visit to TODAY.
READ MORE ABOUT HODA KOTB
Hoda and her former fiancé, Joel Schiffman, adopted Haley in 2017, followed by adopting Hope in 2019.
THE BREAK-UP
On January 31, 2022, the Today Show host and Joel announced that they had called off their engagement after eight years together.
Hoda revealed the break-up on-air, telling viewers: "Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we are better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple.“
"So we decided we are going to start this new year on our new path as loving parents to our adorably delightful children and as friends.”
Most read in The Sun
The former couple had been together since 2013 and became engaged in November 2019.
HODA'S HISTORY
Hoda and financier Joel met after she spoke at an event for Wall Street professionals.
On November 25, 2019, she announced live on Today that she was engaged to him.
"I was totally shocked," she told the Today panel. "He had a good poker face."
"We ended up having a little dinner on the beach," she said, clarifying that the two were in the middle of a tropical vacation.
"And he was like, 'I have something else I would like to say,' and he said some beautiful things, and then he got down on one knee. Then he said, 'Would you be my wife?'''
WEDDING PLANS
They had originally planned on getting married in 2020 but had to postpone due to the pandemic.
Hoda had shared of the wedding plans at the time: "[It] would mean people are getting on planes so we were kind of holding out to see what could happen.
“But the destination that we were going to is turning into one of the hot spots so it looks like we may have to postpone.
“We’re kind of bummed about that because the place we were going was like our favorite place on Earth. We love it there.”
BABY NUMBER THREE?
Later that year, the TV personality revealed she and Joel were planning to expand their family and adopt a third child.
Speaking with , Hoda said in 2020: "Joel and I have had this conversation because — you feel like you get a limited amount of time on Earth and your heart expands, and sometimes you don't realize your heart's ability to expand until you've filled (it), and sometimes you think you're at the top, and then you realize that there's more room.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
"And we wondered, would our family be better with another child? Do we have enough love? Do we have enough time? Will we be a better family? And the answer to all those questions seems to be yes.
"But you can't control how life works. All we can do is put it into the universe and fill out papers and then wait and if it happens wow, you know, that was meant to be."
5
5
5
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at
Topics