Hoda Kotb, fiance Joel Schiffman split after 8 years

Longtime couple Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman have split, the “Today with Hoda & Jenna” host announced during Monday’s show.

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Hoda says her engagement has been called off. “We decided we are better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,” she says. pic.twitter.com/zOJrvhE6wZ
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) January 31, 2022

The couple, who have been together eight years, share two daughters, 4-year-old Haley and 2-year-old Hope. They got engaged in November 2019, Entertainment Tonight reported.

“Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we’re 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 adorable, delightful children, and as friends,” said Kotb, 57, addressing viewer observations that she is no longer wearing her engagement ring.

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A post shared by Hoda Kotb (@hodakotb)

“It’s not like something happened. They say 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,” Kotb added.

Meanwhile, the longtime television journalist said she prefers to focus on the “joyous moments” of her eight-year relationship with Schiffman, 63, People magazine reported.

“A lot of women know what this feels like ... to be changing course in life, and I feel really brave in this moment, which is a strange feeling to feel, but sometimes in your life, you just have to say the truth,” Kotb said.

“You can carry it and you can pretend. ... You ask yourself, ‘Am I just being optimistic? And sometimes you realize optimism is like trying to put a circle in a square — sometimes it just doesn’t work, and it’s OK. To be able to acknowledge it …. I feel better that I said it,” she added.

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