Before announcing her split fromJoel Schiffman,Hoda Kotbreferred to them as each other’s “lifelong partners.”
The former couple, who share daughters Hope, 2, andHaley, 4, havebeen together since 2013and gotengaged in November 2019. During Monday’s episode ofTODAY,however, Kotb announced that they aregoing their separate ways.
Since their engagement, Kotb, 57, and Schiffman, 63, had topostpone their weddingmultiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. About a month after the virus first began spreading, she told PEOPLE that they didn’t know when the nuptials would eventually happen but said that theyalready felt married.
For more onHoda Kotband Joel Schiffman’s split, listen below toour daily podcast on PEOPLE Every Day.
“I was saying to [Schiffman], ‘I want our friends and family to be together for this moment and the kids.’ I mean, how incredible would that be? But I feel like we’re married. I want to do that obviously, but this whole situation has just underscored that family’s family,” she said in April 2020.
Hoda Kotb Instagram
“I’m happy that we’re engaged. I’m happy we’re going to get married, but we’ve always been lifelong partners,” Kotb continued at the time. “I’m so happy to say ‘I do’ and I’m also happy to do it whenever we need to, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a formality now.”
“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 thanwe 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,” she said.
“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,” she added in her conversation with co-hostJenna Bush Hager.
RELATED GALLERY:Celebrity Couples Who Broke Up in 2022
Kotb went on to say that she wanted to focus on the"joyous moments" of her relationshipwith Schiffman.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“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,” she said. “But sometimes in your life, you just have to say the truth.”
“You can carry it and you can pretend. … You ask yourself, ‘Am I just being optimistic?’ " Kotb added. “And sometimes you realize optimism is like trying to put a circle in a square —sometimes it just doesn’t work, and it’s okay. To be able to acknowledge it …. I feel better that I said it.”
source: people.com
