Did you know that Hoda Kotb's TV career was nearly derailed after a major health scare?
To learn more about the many ups and downs of Kotb's life and career, keep watching.
Growing up is tough, especially when you're the middle child of immigrant parents.
Although Hoda Kotb was born in Oklahoma, her parents emigrated from Egypt shortly
after they got married. She faced challenges related to her cultural and ethnic heritage.
Kotb wrote in a piece for Today that she was the "trifecta of weird." Although she
wanted to fit in, it was never easy for the future TV star. Kotb wrote in the Today piece:
"I had stop sign-sized glasses, frizzy hair, and a weird name so I was that girl. [...] I
remember cringing during school attendance roll call. [...] They would stop at my name and go,
'We've got a typo.' I can physically feel the angst."
The other kids couldn't put Kotb into a stereotypical box,
and that made matters worse for her. In 2016, she told The Wall Street Journal,
"I wasn't black or white to the kids in school, yet I seemed to be both and neither,
which made assimilation on the school bus and in the cafeteria particularly difficult."
Even though she was not popular at school, Kotb said her parents played a crucial
role in her self-esteem. Writing for Today, Kotb had this to say about her Mom and Dad:
"Our parents were really believers in, 'Of course you can! You live in America,
of course you can!' Here, anything is possible."
Needless to say, Kotb followed their advice and chased those dreams down.
Hoda Kotb adored her father. Her admiration for the fossil engineer
specialist was evident in an interview for the Apple TV+ documentary, Dads. As a child,
she knew her father could not be the president of the country because he was an immigrant,
but she had dreams that he could be second-in-charge. She divulged on Today,
"I remember waking up believing that my dad was Vice President. [...] He taught us about
hard work, like getting it done and we all just believed that we can be anything and do anything."
Imagine her sorrow, then, when she learned about her father's death. She told Minnie
Driver in her podcast, "Minnie Questions," that her brother arrived at college and said
he needed to talk to her. She didn't want to and insisted that he tell her his news. She recalled,
"He said, 'Dad had a heart attack, and he died.'
It was like you couldn't even compute what was going on."
Hoda revealed that she stayed at her brother's place that night,
playing James Taylor songs over and over until she went home the following morning.
The loss of her father, which she described as "the worst thing in the world,"
also propelled Kotb's career. Kotb mused on Minnie Driver's podcast:
"Instead, when you don't have that 'attagirl,' you're like,
I guess there's more of this mountain to climb."
Hoda Kotb exclusively spoke to Prevention
in 2017 and reflected on a difficult period in her life. About her weight, she revealed,
"I struggled all through college.
I started really putting on weight after my dad passed, and I just didn't realize it."
She was the sporty type, explaining that she was an "athlete in high
school" and was oblivious about how others saw her. She recalled,
"I didn't know I was big until one of my bosses came up to me and said,
'Hey, Hoda, maybe you ought to get on the treadmill.'"
Kotb didn't take the boss seriously.
She only realized it was a "thing" when she spoke to her sister, telling Prevention:
"My sister was saying, 'I really think you need to
drop a few of these. I'm not trying to be mean, but chop,
chop.' I think I started crying. I'd been on TV for a few years, and I didn't really notice."
Many years later, she wrote an article for Today's "Love Your
Selfie" series about how she felt about her body post-cancer. Kotb wrote in the piece:
"You are so grateful, and you think, 'I don't care what my body looks like,
I am just happy to be here.' [...] This is the body I have and I'll take it."
Even though she was plagued with self-doubt in her youth,
the TV anchor's perspective has changed. Now, Kotb appreciates her body. Period.
Hoda Kotb has made her mark as an anchor of NBC's Today, as well as on the fourth
hour of Today, "Hoda and Jenna." In a 2019 interview with The Cut, she noted,
"I got into this business to be in news and I love that part of the business."
However, she struggled to get anyone to take a chance on her. Kotb related the story of how
she went on a 10-day road trip, resume in hand, and was rejected by, in her words, the "whole
southeastern United States of America." Kotb recalled how 27 news directors had rejected her to
her face. So she was on her way home and driving through Mississippi when she saw a sign that said,
"Greenville our eye is on you. CBS."
Kotb explained:
"I said let me go in there, get rejected from Greenville, and get a map. That was my plan."
However, the news director, Stan Sandroni, who was appointed the day before,
viewed her audition tape and liked it.
"And when it was over he looked at me, and I'll never forget it. He goes,
'you know Hilda,' and I say, 'Yes.' He said, 'I like what I see.'"
Today, Kotb has proved her mettle and is a popular anchor and respected journalist.
Stan Sandroni may have given Kotb a chance to prove herself, but it was the journalist
who pushed her way through 27 rejections to get her shot. Now that's determination.
In 2007, Hoda Kotb received some life-altering news — she had breast cancer. Kotb's gynecologist
discovered the lumps in her breast at a routine check-up. She was only 43 years old at the time.
"With the aid of a mammogram, I was lucky they found the cancer as soon as they did."
She found a doctor that she connected with and found her options straightforward. Kotb recalled,
"I think the good thing was I only really had one choice for treatment [— surgery]."
Although there was some debate around her having chemo,
she came to her own conclusion. Kotb admitted:
"I opted not to do chemo because it wasn't in my lymph nodes."
Following the mastectomy, she had reconstructive surgery and a five-year medication plan.
Hoda felt that "the healing from the surgery" was the hardest. She shared on Today that after
the operation, there was a "window of time" where she didn't even want to look at herself.
Like many celebs, she initially decided to hide her scary diagnosis. Kotb told Cancer Connect,
"I was nervous initially because it's a really sensitive part of you."
One day, on a flight with a stranger, she opened
up after he asked her about a compression sleeve that she wore after her mastectomy.
In her interview with Cancer Connect, Kotb relayed the stranger's advice:
"He said, 'Breast cancer is part of you; it's like working at NBC and
getting married and going to college. Don't hog your journey; it's not just for you;
think of how many people you could have helped on the way home.'"
In 2007, Hoda Kotb experienced a double blow
when she made a shocking discovery. In the Minnie Driver podcast, "Minnie Questions," she revealed,
"In this weird span of a week I found out that I needed a mastectomy,
and at the same time I found out that the guy who I was married to was being unfaithful."
In an interview with Radar Online,
tennis coach Burzis Kanga told his side of the story. Kanga told the outlet:
"We had some differences. My father was ill. She was ill. It was a difficult time."
After marrying Kotb in December 2005, he had also moved from New Orleans to New York,
and that had put their marriage under stress. Kanga confessed:
"I was not used to the big city, I guess. [...] The divorce happened under difficult
conditions. [...] In hindsight, there was a level of immaturity on my part, mistakes I made."
The tennis coach also regretted that he and Kotb were "married for a short time."
However, Kanga praised his ex-wife, saying,
"I will always cherish our memories. She is the epitome of class. I think the world of her."
Hoda Kotb was dealt another blow after her breast cancer diagnosis. In People's "Me Becoming Mom"
podcast, the TV host shared that she learned that the cancer treatments changed her life:
She would never be able to conceive. The news would shock Kotb and she tried to cope with
it for years by suppressing her yearning to have kids. Kotb said on the podcast:
"I was actually with a girlfriend and [...] I remember it like it was yesterday.
Because I had never shared it with anyone that I had wanted — I still yearned for [children]
because it seemed like wanting to go to the moon, it's not happening, so don't even bring it up."
It seems as if her friend assumed that neither she nor her boyfriend at the time,
Joel Schiffman, wanted kids. Suddenly, Kotb had an "epiphany" and decided to
share her real feelings with her friend. Kotb said on the podcast:
"I looked at her and I said, 'Well, I do.' I didn't say did, I said I do."
She was finally able to vocalize her desires, saying,
"I was like, 'Oh my God, I do want to have children, right now. Here in my current state.'"
Luckily, Schiffman agreed to adopt a child with her.
Today, the couple co-parent two daughters together, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine.
While Hoda Kotb has overcome many obstacles, she seemingly did not win the pay gap battle that so
many working women face. In early January of 2018, Kotb landed Matt Lauer's spot on the Today show.
"Because Hoda is officially the co-anchor of Today."
According to Page Six, however, there was a big difference in their salaries.
The outlet reported that Kotb would be earning approximately $18 million less
per annum than Lauer got for the same job. A source told Page Six,
"Hoda isn't complaining about the money. She has landed the
big job she always dreamed of, and most definitely deserves."
Apparently, Hoda could re-negotiate her pay during her contract renewal. The source went on to add,
"But the figures underline the huge wage disparity at NBC News."
In 2021, Hoda Kotb spoke candidly to E! News about her experience as a woman in journalism, musing,
"I think I spent most of my career being paid less than my male counterpart, without question."
Only in later years did she question her salary, stating,
"I think I actually deserve this, or I can ask for this. I wish I didn't waste so many years
either not paying attention. [...] [Y]ou should get paid what you're worth. Simple as that."
While it hasn't been confirmed if she ever got a pay raise,
we do know that Kotb deserves every cent she earns.
In January, Hoda Kotb shocked her fans when she announced that she and her fiancé,
Joel Schiffman, had split after eight years together. The couple got engaged in November 2019,
but thanks to COVID restrictions, they had to postpone their wedding. The anchor said on Today:
"And we decided that we're better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple."
The split did indeed seem to be amicable, as Kotb went on to add:
"[Joel and I have decided 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."
Her remark seemingly rings true, as she posted two pics on her Instagram on New
Year's Day 2022. The first snap is of their two daughters, Haley and Hope,
while the second shows Kotb and Schiffman toasting their glasses to the new year.
Both of them were wearing festive hats and happy grins. Kotb praised her former fiancé
as a "great guy" and a "very kind and loving person." She also noted:
"I feel privileged to have spent eight years with him. [...] We'll
be good parents to those two lovely kids."
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