Did Hoda Kotb Call Off Her Split With Joel Schiffman? What We Know

While Hoda Kotb and her former fiance Joel Schiffman have been separated since at least January 2022, that doesn't mean they're immune to rumors of reconciliation. On the January 2, 2025 episode of "Today," Kotb wore a ring on her left-hand ring finger — you know, the one usually reserved for engagement and wedding rings. "Did anyone else notice the ring on Hoda's left hand this morning? I was waiting for an announcement. At one point she was fiddling with it, sliding it up and down," Instagram user bonnie_k_doyle noted on one of Kotb's Instagram posts. Other viewers of the show spotted the same thing, drumming up buzz that Kotb and Schiffman may be back together.

However, fans of the "Today" host should temper their expectations. Closer spoke with an insider who said, "As far as a reconciliation goes, which everyone is hoping for, I just don't think that's in the cards for them. Never say never, but they're both set in their ways and happy with the way things are." Therefore, as far as we know, Kotb and Schiffman are still just friends and co-parents.

All of this speculation comes just a week after Kotb and Schiffman celebrated Christmas together with their two daughters, Haley and Hope. Kotb posted several pictures of them to her Instagram page on the holiday, showing co-parents and daughters in adorable Christmas PJs. "5:55 pm dinner time—/still in christmas jammies!!" she captioned one post.

Sometimes people in long-term relationships realize their love is best shared as friends, not romantic partners, and that's what happened to Hoda Kotb and Joel Schiffman. "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," Kotb said (via People) when she announced the breakup and end of their engagement on "Today with Hoda & Jenna," and it's good to see them still maintaining that friendship and co-parenting relationship years later.

The couple was together for eight years, and Schiffman popped the question in 2019 before they ultimately split in 2022. "Sometimes two great human beings together isn't enough to make it work," Kotb said on an August 2024 episode of the "Jamie Kern Lima Show." Their parting wasn't incited by anything scandalous, but by simply growing into different people that were better off as friends. "I think when people are growing at different paces, it's hard to be in sync. And I think a lot of people are probably in these situations. And I get it."