Hoda Kotb shared nothing but love for her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, on Father’s Day.
The Today host, 59, celebrated the holiday by posting a sweet snap of Schiffman, 66, cuddling on the couch with their daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5. “Happy father’s day to the best dad!” she captioned her Sunday, June 16, Instagram upload.
The exes quietly dated for two years before making their relationship public in 2015. Eldest daughter Haley was adopted in 2017, followed by Hope in 2019, before the twosome called it quits in January 2022.
“We decided that we are 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 adorably delightful children and as friends,” Kotb explained on Today at the time. “It’s not like something happened. They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, a season or a lifetime, this was for a season.”
Since ending their eight-year romance, the exes have remained friendly as they continue to coparent their children. “We have a really great working relationship when it comes to holidays,” Kotb exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022. “We speak a lot and we make sure that we divvy it up so that it is great for him and great for us.”
She continued: “The ultimate goal is when your girls are happy. That’s what we both say, ‘Happy girls, that’s all we want.’ And that’s what we have. So they enjoy spending time with their dad and they enjoy spending time with me and everybody on my side. So it’s been really good [and] we have a nice mix.”
Schiffman also supported Hoda and their family while Hope experienced an unspecified health scare early last year, which resulted in her being placed in the ICU. “Joel has been by their side as well,” a source exclusively told Us in March 2023.
Kotb, who has since been on several dates with a mystery man, made a rare comment about Schiffman during a March episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna. “I’ve only been with people who are super polite,” she told her cohost Jenna Bush Hager. “Like, when I get up from the table, for instance, Joel got up every time, every time, even if it’s [a] normal dinner.”
More of Kotb’s Today cohosts also took to social media to celebrate Father’s Day. “So very loved,” Savannah Guthrie captioned Instagram pics of her husband, Michael Feldman, with their kids, Vale, 9, and Charley, 7.
Dylan Dreyer wrote that she and her sons — Cal, 7, Oliver, 4, and Rusty, 2 — are the “luckiest people on the planet” in her Father’s Day post to her husband, Brian Fichera. “Happy Father’s Day to a true role model! We love you!!” she gushed.
Craig Melvin’s wife, Lindsay Czarniak, posted pics of the TV personality with their kids — Delano, 10, and Sybil, 7 — noting that he “crushes the role of fatherhood despite the wildest schedule.”
