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- Our first guest is one of the co-hosts of the Today Show.
She's also a best selling author.
She's got a new children's book.
It's called You Are My Happy.
Please welcome back to my show my friend, Hoda Kotb.
(upbeat music)
- I know!
I know! Stop Hoda.
Hoda
I got every flower, I got every well wish.
I got every message, thank you.
- By the way, I have to say, we run opposite you
in New York - Right.
- In many markets. I missed you so much.
Day time is not the same without Wendy Williams
- Thank you, Hoda, thank you.
- I missed you. I'm happy you're back.
- Here's a thing about Hoda, you know Hoda
'cause she's been doing the Today Show
for that fun hour when they drink for eleven years.
But I know Hoda, I remember back when I was at WBLS
and you interviewed me, this is back
when you were a serious journalist.
(laughs)
- I remember.
- You know what I'm saying - I remember those days.
- What was that Nightline?
- Dateline! - Dateline, yes!
That was back when Dateline was more serious.
I mean it's still on, but you know, you know.
And Hoda had me, and I was like I have arrived.
So, but, it's nice to see, I like fun Hoda, a lot!
You're the girl I wished who lived
across the street from me.
Congratulations on the Today Show.
- [Hoda] Thank you, it has been a lot of fun.
I mean, you know what's funny?
I knew Savannah, I knew her pretty well
and liked her, and I always, if I were to
describe Savannah in a word I would've said smart.
And she is that, she's a lawyer and all that stuff.
But you know when you sit next to somebody
and you see all the rest?
Like she's like you're peeling an onion.
She's got a vulnerability that I didn't know about,
she's got a sense of humor that's hilarious.
I'm often like afraid in commercial breaks
that I'm gonna be fired right when we come back
because she has that thing, and I think that
- You can see it through TV.
- Yeah like there's a genuine kind of,
just a genuineness about her.
- [Wendy] Were you nervous that
you wouldn't be able to fill that Matt's seat
as well as he was doing before everything went down?
- Yeah, yeah, I was, yeah, I mean,
- Are you still his friend?
- Yes, yes.
- I gotta get to the bottom of stuff!
- [Hoda] You know what, that's why Wendy's Wendy.
That's why Wendy's Wendy!
- So listen, so back to the more important things, sleep.
- Yes.
- 'Cause you and I are in the same age group.
- Yes.
- 54? - Yes, 54!
I know, I'm with you.
- And sleep is really important.
- It is.
- Among other things. - Yes.
- So, tell me about your routine
because you wake up now I heard at 3:00 in the morning.
- I wake up at three, yeah, I try to
do a bunch of, all my morning routine is
I do like a little grateful journal,
a cup of coffee, a candle, a little music
for fifteen minutes, I block that out.
- That's a lot of stuff.
- And then after that, at like 3:30,
I start studying, 'cause I have to know stuff
when I go to work so that's when
I do that part of my job.
So that's my morning routine, but
I put, you know, Haley's two now,
and I put her to bed,
- We'll talk, we'll talk,
- Okay, but the great thing about Haley
is when I put her to bed,
- [Wendy] She looks like Dora the Explorer!
(laughs)
- She does! - It's cute!
Go ahead, go ahead.
- When I put her down, which is usually around
6:30 or 7, I have my meal with Joel,
and then by 8:00 babe, light's out.
- [Wendy] Light's out.
- Goodnight. And I love that, like
I like curling up at that time.
- [Wendy] So wait, it's 3:00 in the afternoon
that you go to sleep?
- I go to, well, I wake up at 3 am,
and I go to bed at eight at night.
So that's my, yeah, that's my time.
But that's a lot, I think.
- No it is a lot particularly because we always say
you might think you're 25, but
everything still creaks inside.
- Everything creaks, everything.
- And also Joel, you know, congratulations
on keeping that a secret for six years,
(laughs)
So I mean, back when you were on with Kathy Lee
she used to tease you about your love life a lot.
- I know.
- [Wendy] And then we were seeing, 'cause you know,
the paparazzi always around in New York,
and you're always at places where the paparazzi are,
and so I've seen pictures of you and Joel.
- Yeah.
- [Wendy] So I knew you had something going on.
- Yeah.
- How do you keep that going?
- Well, he is, the like finest man I've ever met.
- Yes, yes. Age appropriate.
- And he's just, he's everything.
- [Wendy] Does he have his kids already?
- Yes. - Perfect,
Has he been married?
- Yes.
- Perfect. - Yes, yes, yes.
He has, he's got a grown daughter and
now we have Haley together, and
I mean think about this though,
this is a guy who, you know, I always
wanted to have a child and I wondered
if Joel did too.
- [Wendy] 'Cause you were already
deep into your relationship.
- We were in the relationship.
- [Wendy] So did you have to go and announce it to him?
- Well this is what I did, I was scared
because we were about to move in,
and I said I cannot move in with him unless
he knows that I have this voice inside
this feeling inside that I can't push down anymore.
I want to be a mom, so I kept thinking
today's the day so I went to Joel
and I said to him, I need to discuss something
with you and it's really important.
And I said and I want you not to answer me now.
I want you to marinate,
- That's how grown people talk.
- Take a month, take as long as you need,
and so he looked at me like he was terrified.
And I said there's a feeling inside
that I cannot quiet anymore and I have to say it out loud
and I'm gonna say it. And he said okay,
and I said I want to explore adoption with you.
And he said - Is he on the papers?
- He said, I don't need a minute.
I don't need a minute, that's what he said.
I don't need a minute.
I like cried on his chest, my mascara was down it,
because he in that minute he knew
that there was nothing that would make me happier.
- [Wendy] Are you gonna marry him?
They're giving me signs!
- Did you say you better?
(laughs)
- [Wendy] Well not necessarily!
- By the way, he's an awesome dad.
- [Wendy] Is he the father on the papers?
- He's the father.
- [Wendy] Oh, nice, nice.
I mean, whether you get married or not,
it seems like he's stuck with you.
And why not, you're a good time?
Do you like Jenna?
- I love Jenna.
- [Wendy] I like her too.
- She is wild and fun.
- She's a whole lot of fun.
And I've seen her fill in before Kathy, you know, left
I saw her fill in, but I was wondering
whether she was gonna continue drinking on the show
you know, sitting there every day.
She drinks every day!
- Well, you know what here's the thing,
I think we feel like if you take away the wine
it sort of signals that the party's over.
And it really is, I mean let's be real,
it's kind of a prop, I mean
that's kind of what it's doing there.
- Did they ever ask you to take away the wine
once you took the Matt chair and all of a sudden
you got, 'cause now you're back
to straight news in the morning.
And then good time girl, you know, after that.
- They never once asked us.
- Really? - Never once
Because you can, you know what,
we're multifaceted, aren't we?
Like I like hard news, I like knowing all that stuff,
I like doing that, but I also like this other part of me.
It's like I watch 60 Minutes, I read People magazine.
Like, we are multifaceted.
- Do you watch Cho Bro?
- No, is it awesome?
- Do you watch Dr. Pimple Popper?
- I, first of all, we've had Dr. Pimple Popper on,
- It's juicy.
- No, it's I can't. No, I can't. Kathy Lee is so into that.
- Do you still talk to her?
- Well she's gonna be here, her last day is April 5th.
- Okay, are you happy she's leaving?
- No.
- [Wendy] I was just trying to stir something up.
Hi, Kathy Lee!
- She was, yeah, I'm gonna, like I actually
don't even like to visualize that day.
Yeah, I don't like to visualize that.
- The parade that's going to be going on behind her.
- It'll be a Queens jubilee, baby.
- You know you got this thing about you,
the people who come on your show,
and the people that you meet,
it seems as though you are naturally
and organically everybody's friend.
So, you made this friendship with Jennifer Lopez.
She's friends with Jennifer Lopez.
So, Jen comes on the show, and then gives you the challenge.
- The ten day no carb, no sugar, no fun challenge.
- Well you could have just said no.
- I can't, oh my God, how could I?
- Lucky Joel.
(laughs)
- She asked Leigh Remini, who
I don't know if she went on it or not,
and I did it for ten days, and I did feel better
I gotta say after I did it, I mean,
I won't do it.
- [Wendy] Sugar's the devil.
- I know, are you off sugar?
- I'm off sugar as much as, like,
I do time every bit of sugar in my body.
- Yeah, I hadn't felt that good in a long time
But I mean, but Jennifer Lopez is
one of those just ageless cool people.
- You want your body to look like that.
- Don't you? - for the rest of time.
- But it can't - No.
- Never.
- We can only be us. - Never, we can only be us.
- Alright, and regarding your daughter.
Now let's talk about her, two years old.
How old was she when you got her?
- She was a newborn.
- Zero.
- She was zero. She was zero.
- [Wendy] And so now, turns out Hoda
is also friends with Sandra Bullock,
and Sandra guided you through the process
kinda, sorta, I love that.
- You know when you look at someone,
and she's my age, and she adopted two children,
and I remember thinking to myself,
like I wonder if it's even in my imagination
that I missed my window, am I too late?
And then I realize like, if you want something in your life,
you have to say it out loud.
You can't keep a secret inside,
you have to say it like, I want this.
If there's a job you want, or thing,
'cause if you don't verbalize it, there's no way.
And I remember when I said it out loud,
one of the people I sought out was her,
because I thought to myself just tell me,
like tell me if this is a real thing.
And she said Hoda, you know, families are always different.
There is no box, don't think you have to have this and this,
meet in your twenties, have the baby, you missed it.
- [Wendy] Hoda, you've got it all.
(laughs)
You've got it all and a brand new book.
Inspired by your daughter.
- [Hoda] My little Haley, yeah,
It's called You Are My Happy, it's just about
like, it's just about cuddling up at night
and chilling out with her and I'm just happy
to be able to say that, sit up with Wendy Williams
and say I'm a mom.
- You know, Hoda is the perfect example of
don't give up because it could all happen
and you can be kind while it's happening.
I have a gift for you.
You know here at Wendy, look, it's not much,
it's not a car, relax.
Look, here's for Haley.
- [Hoda] Oh my God!
- And then here's for you, Hoda you doin?
(laughs)
Hoda Kotb everybody!
Her new book is called You Are My Happy,
it's available now.
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