Hoda Kotb brought the next generation with her to her high school reunion. Daughter Hope, 4, joined the Today host on stage and even wore her old cheerleading uniform.
“It was so fun. And at the end, I was telling a story about how I was a late bloomer in high school and a late bloomer in life and all the best things in my life happened after 50,” Kotb, 59, shared on the Monday, October 2 episode of Today. “I talked about how I had my girls after 50.”
Kotb shares daughters Hayley, 6, and Hope with ex Joel Schiffman (from whom she split in 2022 after nine years together). They adopted their little girls in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and she told her former Fort Hunt High School classmates about becoming a mom when she took the stage as the reunion’s keynote speaker.
“I said one of the best calls I ever got in my life was when the phone rang and it was the adoption agency and I didn’t know what a birth felt like,” Hoda recalled. “I’ve never given birth to a child, but when you get a phone call and you listen and I said, ‘Hello,’ and the woman on the other end at the adoption agency said, ‘She’s here.’ And I thought, ‘She’s here.’”
It seems Hope took that as her cue to make her appearance.
“And so when I was at my reunion, I said, ‘And she’s here.’ Little Hope came buzzing up on the stage, not afraid of anything, wearing my old high school cheerleading uniform,” Kotb gushed. “Anyway, it was a fun, fun weekend. I got to see old friends. It was so cool.”
She called it “one of those kind of ‘pinch-me,’ amazing moments” while adding that Hayley was at home to enjoy time with her grandmother.
The outing came several months after Hope had a health scare. After an extended absence from the NBC morning show in February and March, Kotb told Today viewers that Hope was “in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week.”
The TV personality did not disclose the details of her daughter’s health scare. She added, “I’m so grateful she’s home. … I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”
Since then, the mom has been enjoying every moment she can with her little ones. Kotb surprised Today viewers earlier this month when she left the show mid-broadcast to take her daughters to their first day of school.
“Can I leave right now?” Kotb excitedly asked producers during the September 6 episode. Cohost Savannah Guthrie explained that Kotb was “on the run” because “it’s the first day of school.”
“I’m taking my kids to school,” Kotb confirmed. “See ya later!”
She finished drop off and was back for the third hour of the show, Today With Hoda and Jenna.
