Hoda Kotb dishes on her holiday plans with her ex-fiancé

Today Show host Hoda Kotb has revealed her holiday plans - and it involves her ex-fiancé, financier Joel Schiffman.

While the two split in 2022 after getting engaged in 2019, the former couple remain friends and share two children together, daughters Haley, seven, and Hope, five.

And this year, the two will be spending Christmas together with the rest of Kotb's family at her new home in Bronxville, New York. 

'For us, our Christmas isn’t huge ‘cause it’s me, my kids, my mom, my sister, Joel,' Kotb shared during the December 24 episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, which was pre-filmed.   

'We get together. That’s the group, and it’s kind of just a cozy Christmas. So, we’ll put out cookies tonight for Santa and carrots. He always seems to like the cookies more,' Kotb continued.

The couple had been dating for six years when they got engaged, but decided to call it quits just a few years later.

The journalist announced the news of her split while she was live on-air in January 2022.

'Joel and I have had a lot of prayer and meaningful conversations over the holidays and we decided that we are better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple,' the talk show host said at the time.

'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,' she continued.

'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.'

However, this past summer, the children's book author revealed some more insight into what led to her split during an appearance on The Jamie Kern Lina Show.

She called her ex 'the best person' that she knows, but said that even so, it doesn't always work out in a relationship.

'And I feel like I'm a pretty great human being, but sometimes two great human beings together isn't quite enough to make it work,' she said at the time. 

She cryptically added, 'I think when people are growing at two different paces it's hard to be in sync.'

According to Kotb, the split may have been for the best, as she was hopeful that she will one day find love again someday.

'When I close my eyes and I envision the romantic part of my life, I can see it very clearly,' she shared.

'Because for the first time in my life I am me. Someone is meeting me. Not the version that you might want, or not the version that I'll twist a little bit to fit your needs or what is appealing to you,' she continued.

'This is who I am, and I feel like once you get there your heart rests. You're like, "Oh, this is what it feels like." So when I close my eyes and see it, I see it.'

Hoda stressed that she has no idea what her match looks like physically, nor does she particularly care.

'I don't see his face. It's not like I'm like, "I want XYZ." I don't even care about XYZ, tall, short, bald, not bald,' she shared. 

'I don't care. But I know the essence and I can sense the soul of that person.'

She added, 'I know the way that my life is, that is coming. So many things have taken so much time to show up in my life and I don't mind it one bit.'

This month marks one of Kotb's last on The Today Show, as she announced in September that she was going to be leaving her post in order to spend time with her daughters.

The anchor said that she struggled with juggling being there for her kids and doing her best at work.

Her final day on The Today Show is January 10, 2025.