Hoda Kotb announced on 'Today' that she and Joel Schiffman had ended their engagement.
Kathie Lee Gifford is proud of her former Today show co-host, Hoda Kotb. On Monday's Today, 57-year-old Kotb announced in the third hour of the morning show that she and Joel Schiffman had ended their engagement and eight-year romance, choosing to move forward as friends and co-parents to their two daughters, 4-year-old Haley and 2-year-old Hope.
Commenting on a Today With Hoda & Jenna Instagram post about the announcement, 68-year-old Gifford expressed her support for her former co-host and friend.
"My darling Hoda, I am truly so proud of the way you have handled a very difficult and painful decision," Gifford wrote. "As usual you did it with grace and kindness. May God bless you and your precious girls and Joel as well as you continue down this thing called life. I love you."
Kotb and Schiffman got engaged in November 2019 and were forced to postpone their wedding due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Noting in Monday's episode that people have been asking why she's not been wearing her engagement ring, Kotb opened up about her and Schiffman's mutual decision to end their engagement.
"We decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it on our new path, as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children and as friends," she said. "It's not like something happened. They say that sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason or a season or for a lifetime, and I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season."
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