Published: 19:43 BST, 21 August 2026 | Updated: 19:46 BST, 21 August 2026
Hoda Kotb shocked her former Today show co-hosts on Friday after revealing that she may have finally found a romantic connection with a new man.
The 62-year-old, who split from her fiance Joel Schiffman in 2022, told Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager that she recently met a 'very handsome' man while on a flight.
'Oh, this is romantic! Should we try to find him?' Jones gushed.
Kotb then shocked the two Today anchors by revealing that she and the mystery man had such a strong connection during their brief encounter that it left them both in tears.
'It was the weirdest connection in the world. We were both crying,' she shared.
'It was strange. You know, when you have one of those… everything is firing on all cylinders?' she continued.
Hoda Kotb returned to the Today show on Friday where she revealed that she recently met a 'handsome' man on a flight
'He kept saying, "Is this a dream? Is this real?"' she recalled.
But despite their explosive chemistry, the pair went their separate ways after the flight, only to then serendipitously meet again at a business conference.
'Our company went to Cannes so we could talk about our company, and he was in the audience, randomly,' she revealed.
The pair greeted each other, but Kotb admits, 'But then, it all kind of just went away.'
However, Kotb said that she and the mystery man swapped numbers and have started texting again.
'Look. There are connections. I don't know what it is,' she shared, before calling him 'very cute' and 'very handsome'.
Kotb started dating financier Joel Schiffman in 2013 and they eventually adopted two daughters together.