2024-08-13 20:50:02
Now this is how you celebrate your birthday.
Longtime TODAY co-anchor Hoda Kotb turned 60 on August 9 and parlayed that significant milestone into one of the best birthday celebrations ever! On August 10, Kotb shared a delightful Instagram post of her friends and family gathered at her home to celebrate her big day.
See the wonderful family photo here.
“Thx for all of the wonderful bday wishes!!!! My party was perfect! —Minus my sis being home sick 🤧 we missed you Hala—❤️❤️❤️,” the star — who recently returned from the Paris Olympics — said.
Kotb’s ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, also participated in the festivities, showing once again that the bond between the two is as strong as ever in friendship, especially when spending time with their children.
But the celebration didn’t stop with some much-deserved time with friends and family. No, NBC and TODAY rolled out the red carpet for the birthday girl on Monday, August 12, turning the instantly memorable episode into a celebration of all things Hoda! One of Kotb’s favorite bands, Little Big Town, even turned up for a mini concert. It’s clear that nobody throws a party like the TODAY crew, and viewers and colleagues alike were engulfed in a super sweet on-air birthday bash.
Even Kotb’s two kids, Haley and Hope, got in on the action to celebrate their mom, even posing alongside Al Roker for an adorable photo-op:
Hoda Kotb and her ex-fiancé are still on good terms
In 2022, Kotb announced on-air that she was splitting from her former fiancé, revealing “we’re better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple.”
However, Haley and Hope (whom the pair adopted in 2017 and 2019, respectively) don’t have to worry about the breakup impacting their childhood. Kotb explained that she and Schiffman’s priority would be co-parenting their kids moving forward.
“He’s a great guy, and he’s a very kind and loving person, and I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him,” Kotb revealed. “We are both good, and we are both going on our way and our path, and we’ll be good parents to those two lovely kids.”
In a Father’s Day Instagram post earlier this year, Kotb called her ex “the best dad,” and we agree.
How does Hoda Kotb feel about her 60th birthday?
The magnitude of turning 60 isn’t lost on Kotb whatsoever. In a recent episode of her podcast, Making Space with Hoda Kotb, the TODAY star peeled back the curtain and gave listeners insight about hitting this particular milestone.
“I wish I knew back in my 40s that anything was possible, because I really didn’t. I probably didn’t believe it,” she explained. “I sort of believed, in my early 50s, maybe this is as good as it gets. Maybe I have a great job, and I have a great, you know, brother and sister and nieces and that’s amazing and lucky me. And I felt that.”
Ultimately, Kotb found peace in not settling for simply being grateful — she learned it was okay to still be driven and determined for “more.”
“Sometimes, I think you have to tell yourself that you deserve more,” she continued. “You’re worthy of more. You’re allowed to ask if you want something more. I think it’s beautiful to be humble and grateful, but I also think it takes something special to say, ‘I actually want that.’ And to have the power to stand in your own self and say, ‘I deserve something more.’ Sometimes I think we used to think that good enough was enough. ‘That’s good enough. This is good enough.’ But why?”
As for what she would tell her younger self, Kotb stressed that opening yourself up and letting feelings, emotions, and experiences in is something she genuinely believes in.
“You have to feel worthy of it,” she revealed. “You are lovable, and you deserve to have love in your life in all forms. So, open yourself up to it and let it come in. I think that’s what I would’ve told my (younger) self.”
