Hoda Kotb

Kotb was married to University of New Orleans tennis coach Burzis Kanga from 2005 until their divorce in 2008. She began a relationship with financier Joel Schiffman in 2013, and they became engaged in 2019 before ending their engagement in 2022. They continued to focus on co-parenting their two daughters, Haley Joy Kotb and Hope Catherine Kotb.

Kotb adopted Haley Joy in February 2017 and Hope Catherine in April 2019. After Hope experienced a serious health issue in 2023, Kotb took time away from Today to care for her daughter and later drew on the experience for her children's book Hope Is a Rainbow.

In March 2007, Kotb underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She shared her experience on Today later that year and has used her public platform to promote breast cancer awareness.

Kotb began her broadcasting career as a news assistant for CBS News in Cairo in 1986. Her first on-air position was at WXVT, a CBS affiliate in Greenville, Mississippi. She then worked as a reporter at WQAD in Moline, Illinois, as a weekend anchor and reporter at WINK in Fort Myers, Florida, and as an anchor and reporter at WWL-TV in New Orleans from 1992 to 1998.

She joined NBC News in April 1998 as a correspondent for Dateline NBC and other NBC News platforms. Her reporting included coverage of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She also interviewed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hosted the syndicated health program Your Total Health from 2004 to 2008.

Her Dateline NBC report The Education of Ms. Groves, about a first-year teacher at an urban middle school in Atlanta, received a Peabody Award in 2006 and additional journalism honors.

Kotb became the host of the 10 a.m. hour of Today when the segment debuted in September 2007. Kathie Lee Gifford joined her as co-host in 2008, and the pair became known for their conversational format. They later received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host in 2019.

In January 2018, Kotb became co-anchor of the main Today broadcast with Savannah Guthrie. Their appointment marked the first time two women were paired as the show's lead anchors. Kotb continued hosting the fourth hour after Jenna Bush Hager succeeded Gifford in 2019, with the program becoming known as Today with Hoda & Jenna.

Kotb announced in September 2024 that she would leave her Today hosting roles to spend more time with her daughters. Her final day on the program was January 10, 2025, while she remained part of NBC in another capacity.

Kotb published her memoir Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee in 2010, and it became a New York Times bestseller. Her later nonfiction books include Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, Where They Belong: The Best Decisions People Almost Never Made, I Really Needed This Today and This Just Speaks to Me.

Her children's books include I've Loved You Since Forever, You Are My Happy and Hope Is a Rainbow. I've Loved You Since Forever was adapted into a lullaby by Kelly Clarkson.

Kotb hosted The Hoda Show, a SiriusXM program on Today Show Radio, beginning in 2015. In 2021, she began hosting the podcast Making Space with Hoda Kotb, whose guests have included Rita Moreno, Steve Harvey, Lainey Wilson, Ziggy Marley, Simone Biles and Jonathan Haidt.

Kotb received the Edward R. Murrow Award in 2002 and a Gracie Award in 2003. Her reporting and hosting work also brought her a Headliner Award, several additional Gracie Awards, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and a Webby Award for the pediatric cancer awareness music video “Truly Brave,” created with Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper.

She was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and received the Matrix Award in 2021. She also served as a keynote speaker at Virginia Tech's 2008 commencement and later joined the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors.