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TV host Hoda Kotb gets real about motherhood, mornings and moving on<\/p>\n
Veteran TV host and author Hoda Kotb is one of USA TODAY’s 2025 Women of the Year.<\/p>\n
Hoda Kotb’s new book, “Jump and Find Joy” offers readers “a little mini roadmap\u201d for changing their lives, she says.Kotb reveals in her book that she previously felt like “a total phony in my relationships” and gives an update on her dating life.Hoda Kotb misses hosting “Today,” but shares why she doesn’t regret her decision.<\/p>\n
Leaping boldly is as embedded in Hoda Kotb<\/a>\u2019s DNA as smiling, loving music and wearing stacks of friendship bracelets.<\/p>\n In 1998 she bounced from her New Orleans anchor desk for a local CBS affiliate to NBC News\u2019 “Dateline.”<\/p>\n \u201cI was barely hanging on,\u201d Kotb, 61, says. \u201cI used to go up to correspondents and ask them like, \u2018Can you help me? I don’t know how to do this or that.\u2019 And it was probably years of feeling insecure.\u201d<\/p>\n Kotb pressed on anyway. She began hosting the fourth hour of \u201cToday\u201d<\/a> in 2007, emboldened by a battle with breast cancer to ask for the promotion. Kotb began coanchoring the \u201cToday\u201d show alongside Savannah Guthrie<\/a> in 2018. But last September, Kotb made the shocking announcement she was leaving the “Today” show.<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved it, but I didn’t need it,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted it, but I didn’t have to have it. … There were so many things I wanted to try, but couldn’t, didn’t have time, wasn’t able, busy.\u201d She decided in her 60s, she\u2019d \u201cbe a beginner again.\u201d<\/p>\n Kotb launched her wellness company Joy 101<\/a> in May, which offers an app and hosts virtual and in-person events. \u201cBy the way, being an entrepreneur is hard, OK?\u201d she says. \u201cBeing a CEO of a company is hard. Nobody told me!\u201d but \u201cit’s such fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Kotb is encouraging others to pursue their dreams in her new book, \u201cJump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life\u201d<\/a> (available now). The pages are filled with Kotb\u2019s own challenging experiences \u2212 including facing cancer<\/a>, ending relationships and leaving \u201cToday\u201d \u2013 as well as advice from famous faces who inspire her, like Oscar-winner Viola Davis<\/a>, self-help superstar Mel Robbins<\/a> and Grammy-nominee Thomas<\/a> Rhett<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOften you need to see someone jump before you can because you’re like, \u2018Is it really safe over there? I’m not sure,\u2019\u201d Kotb says. \u201cIt’s like when Sandra Bullock adopted her children<\/a> at our age, I knew it was possible. \u2026 When I was thinking about all the parts of my life that were the most meaningful, jumping into motherhood, or out of a job, or in or out of a relationship … it takes courage to do it.”<\/p>\n Hoda Kotb misses the \u2018Today\u2019 show \u2018every single day\u2019<\/p>\n Without hesitation, Kotb will admit to missing \u201cToday\u201d and conversations with Guthrie and Jenna<\/a> Bush Hager<\/a> \u201cevery single day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo I miss an interesting conversation? Absolutely,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, I also get to have these things that are changing me at a really kind of cellular level. So, I feel like the cup keeps getting filled up somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n At \u201cToday,\u201d her life was \u201cfull of incredible conversations and great concerts,\u201d she says. \u201cYour cup’s so full that often there isn’t room for regular life. What I found is that cup was empty, and it’s not anymore. I feel myself, as I’m going through my days, feeling totally satisfied and full.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoda Kotb savors \u2018little conversations that are everything\u2019 with daughters<\/p>\n Exiting \u201cToday\u201d allowed Kotb to be a more present mom to her daughters Haley, 8, and Hope<\/a>, 6.<\/p>\n \u201cHope said something to me the other day that was so moving and beautiful,\u201d Kotb recalls. While reading \u201cCinderella\u201d to her daughter, Kotb says she closed the book and asked Hope, \u201cWhat’s it like to have diabetes?\u201d Kotb revealed Hope\u2019s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis<\/a> on \u201cToday\u201d in May.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd she goes, \u2018Well, it hurts sometimes when I get poked, and sometimes I get upset because my friends get to have things I don’t. And that’s hard,\u2019\u201d Kotb says. \u201cShe goes, \u2018But then I think it’s just life, and sometimes I wish that it would just all go away.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hope then asked Kotb, \u201c\u2018What’s it like for you?\u2019 And I go, \u2018For me?\u2019\u201d Kotb says. \u201cShe goes, \u2018Yeah, what’s it like for you to have me?\u2019 And I said, \u2018It’s another of God’s reminders that I got the strongest kid ever. Like, I get to be your mom.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n With less on her plate, Kotb\u2019s able to have these \u201clittle conversations that are everything,\u201d she says. \u201cIt just struck me. I get to see the world slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoda Kotb went from \u2018a total phony in my relationships\u2019 to being \u2018all the way ready\u2019 for love<\/p>\n Kotb writes candidly of her romances in \u201cJump and Find Joy.\u201d She describes her relationship with University of New Orleans tennis coach Burzis Kanga as \u201cfine.\u201d They wed in 2005, and Kotb filed for divorce in 2007.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had our ups and downs like everyone else, but for the most part, it was fine,\u201d Kotb writes. \u201cBut you don\u2019t build a great romance on fine. You don\u2019t get married on fine. Unless, of course, you\u2019re not really looking around and taking stock of what\u2019s actually in front of you, and you\u2019ve convinced yourself that a simple, breezy relationship is more solid and permanent than it actually is.\u201d<\/p>\n Kotb shares her daughters with former fiance\u0301 Joel Schiffman. She announced they’d called off their engagement<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cJoel\u2019s a really nice person,\u201d Kotb writes. \u201cI\u2019m a really nice person. Sometimes, it\u2019s not that things are wrong, it\u2019s that they don\u2019t feel 100 percent right. I think when your partner is nice and there\u2019s chemistry, it\u2019s easy to overlook that you\u2019ve been cruising along different paths. But when you decide to take a good look and compare road maps … you can\u2019t avoid the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n