Hoda Kotb hints at why she split from ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman

Hoda Kotb may be ready to move on, but she’s still looking back on her previous romance with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.

The “Today” co-host explained that her and Schiffman’s relationship was simply not working out during Tuesday’s episode of the “The Jamie Kern Lima Show,” adding that it was a situation “a lot of people are probably in.”

“One person’s growing … or one person wants it this way, and one person wants it that way,” Kotb described.

Kotb added that her ex — whom she broke up with in 2022 after eight years together — is “one of the best people I know.”

“He really is a great human being,” she said. “And I feel like I’m a pretty great human being, but sometimes two great human beings together isn’t quite enough to make it work. I’m a pretty great human being, but sometimes two great human beings together isn’t quite enough to make it work.”

Kotb shares two adopted children with the financier, daughters Hayley Joy, 7, and Hope Catherine, 4. She and Schiffman began dating in 2013 and became engaged in 2019.

At the time of their split, the “I Really Needed This Today” author said they decided they were “better as friends and parents.”

“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,” she said at the time.

Kotb’s remarks on the podcast come shortly after she revealed her future romantic plans to Page Six following her 60th birthday earlier this month.

“I can see romance clearly, I just can. It’s how you know something is meant to be,” she told us, adding that she feels 60 is her year.

“I feel like this is the season of repotting and growth. There’s this feeling that the roots are up in the air, but then you land in this rich soil and you’re like, ‘Oh, more room to grow.’”

Kotb echoed a similar sentiment in her conversation with Lima, revealing that while she may not “have room” for a consuming relationship due to her “crowded” life just yet, she does have time for “a Friday night.”