Kathie Lee Gifford has come forward in supporting her close friend and an old colleague Hoda Kotb who is going through a painful breakup with longtime partner Joel Schiffman.
Hoda Kotb had announced on Monday on “today with Hoda and Jenna” about her split up when viewers noticed that the engagement ring was missing from her hand.
“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,” Hoda said on the show. “So we decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it kind of on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends.”
“Hoda and Jenna” also shared the news on its official Instagram handle.
Kathie Lee Gifford wrote a beautiful message for her friend stating “My darling Hoda, I am truly so proud of the way you have handled a very difficult and painful decision,” she 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.”
Hoda Kotb stated that there hasn’t been a lot in the background which caused the split but she is still finding it “awkward” and “weird” to discuss it in public. She said that she is already struggling while talking about the painful breakup.
“I feel like often we share the joyous pieces of our life, the engagement, and all the fun … and I share the adoption of my children and all the joy and all the beautiful parts, and then the difficult parts sometimes you want to forget about. You want to erase them, you don’t want to share them because that’s not part of a pretty picture,” Kotb said.
She continued: “I think a lot of women know what this feels like at this moment to be changing course in life and I feel really brave in this moment which is sort of a strange feeling to feel.”
Hoda Kotb said that she does feel better now that the news is out and everybody knows the truth.
“Sometimes in your life, you just have to say the truth. And sometimes you can carry it, you can pretend and do things, and you’re not being yourself, and you ask yourself, ‘Am I just being optimistic?” Kotb said. “Sometimes you realize optimism is sometimes trying to put a circle in a square, and sometimes it just doesn’t work. And it’s OK, and to be able to acknowledge it and say to yourself, ‘OK, this is the path that we’re going to be taking from here on.'”
The couple got engaged back in 2019 and share two daughters 5-year-old Haley Joy and 2-year-old Hope Catherine.
