“Look. There are connections,” Kotb said, playing coy about whether it’s romantic with this mystery man. “I don’t know what it is.”

Hoda Kotb has been texting a ‘handsome’ man after serendipitous meeting on airplane

“Look. There are connections,” Kotb said, playing coy about whether it’s romantic with this mystery man. “I don’t know what it is.”

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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August 21, 2026 3:19 p.m. ET

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Hoda Kotb on ‘Today With Jenna & Sheinelle ‘ in August 2026. Credit:

- Hoda Kotb revealed that she met a “very handsome” man on a flight recently and has been texting him.

- “Look. There are connections,” Kotb said on *Today*, playing coy about whether it’s romantic. “I don’t know what it is.”

- Kotb, who was on *Today *from 2007 to 2025, recently celebrated her birthday with a family vacation to the Bahamas.

Is love in the air for Hoda Kotb?

The former *Today** *anchor stopped by the show to chat with Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones on Friday, Aug. 21 after her birthday vacation to the Bahamas. She also filled in her colleagues on all aspects of her life beyond her lifestyle company Joy 101.

“Well, everybody likes to talk about your love life. I’m gonna ask you,” Hager said on *Today With Jenna & Sheinelle*, with Jones adding, “You’re like, whatever!”

“Well, here’s the thing,” Kotb, who was on *Today *from 2007 to 2025, began. “This is not a real love connection thing, but I did meet someone on a plane when I was flying somewhere. It was the weirdest connection in the world, we were both crying.”

Sheinelle Jones, Jenna Bush Hager, and Hoda Kotb on ‘Today With Jenna & Sheinelle ’ in August 2026.

Jones swooned over the flight connection. “Oh, this is romantic! Should we try to find him?” she asked. Meanwhile, Kotb called it “strange.”

“You know when you have one of those moments [where] everything is firing on all cylinders,” Kotb shared. “He kept saying, ‘Is this a dream? Is this real?’

She continued, “Fast-forward. Our company went to Cannes, so we could talk about our company [Joy 101]. And he was in the audience, randomly. And he goes, ‘Hi,’ and I said, ‘Hi.’ But then, it all kind of went away.”

Kotb then clarified that the story didn’t end there.

Savannah Guthrie reunites with Hoda Kotb amid break from ‘Today’

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She added that “we have texted recently,” before noting, “Look. There are connections. I don’t know what it is.”

She then confirmed that the mystery man is “really cute” and “very handsome.” Once she revealed that he was single, Hager was on board. “Let’s go!” she said, while Jones said their meet-cute had “*Notting Hill* vibes.”

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Kotb was previously engaged to Joel Schiffman. The former couple began dating in 2013 before going public with their relationship in 2015, and Schiffman popped the question in 2019. They welcomed daughters Haley and Hope in 2017 and 2019, respectively, through adoption, and continue co-parenting amicably since their 2021 split.

“They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime, and I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season,” she said of their breakup during a January 2022 episode of *Today*.

For Father’s Day in June, she shared a picture on Instagram of the financier and their daughters, calling him “the best dad ever.”

Elsewhere in her *Today *interview, Kotb told Hager and Jones how she’s looking ahead after turning 62. “All I’m doing is learning all over again,” she declared.

“I’m just trying to get better, not just at living, but at my company and how I’m navigating my life,” she added.

Watch Hoda Kotb’s full appearance on *Today *below.

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