Hoda Kotb has offered a fresh update on the “handsome” mystery man she met during a flight and quickly connected with.
The former Today host, 62, ended her engagement to Joel Schiffman in 2022. In September, she revealed that she had developed a romantic spark with a man who happened to sit beside her on an airplane.
This week, Kotb disclosed that the pair still have not gone on their first official date. During an appearance on Today, she admitted that fear has kept her from accepting his invitations.
While serving as a guest co-host on Monday’s morning show, the mother of two said the unidentified man had asked her to meet for coffee “a couple of times.” So far, however, she has repeatedly declined.
Kotb said she worries that taking their relationship beyond flirtatious messages could take away from the excitement and mystery they currently share.
“I’ll tell you why I haven’t [gone on a date with him]. One, I’m scared. Two, I like [to] flirt, [I like the stage when] you don’t know what it is, but it might be something,” she said.
“Sometimes, once you realize it isn’t something, it stops being as much fun. So I think I’m sort of just keeping it as a [texting] thing.”
Kotb, who shares daughters Haley, nine, and Hope, seven, with Schiffman, said she remains confident that love is still ahead of her. She acknowledged, though, that finding it may require her to step outside her comfort zone.
“I’m 62 years old, I have two young kids, and I believe the love part of my life is a piece that’s coming,” she continued.
Hoda Kotb shared an update on the “handsome” mystery man she met during a flight while appearing on the Today show this week
The former Today host, 62, split from fiancé Joel Schiffman in 2022. She first revealed in September that she had connected with a man who sat beside her on a flight; she and Schiffman are pictured together in 2018
“I don’t go, ‘Oh well, that’s that.’ I believe that as I am going through life, there is going to be a person who shares more than just the things that mattered to me when I was younger.”
“I want someone with a deep spiritual connection and a deep emotional connection. I think that’s coming, and I think I have to take risks to get it.”
Her co-host, Jenna Bush Hager, encouraged Kotb to stop hesitating and accept the mystery man’s invitation.
“[She has to go] because my friend is brave and does things that scare her,” Bush Hager said. “I want you to go on that coffee date.”
“Okay,” an emotional Kotb replied. “I will go on the coffee date.”
Kotb first told the story in September, when she revealed on the show that she had met a “very handsome” man while flying to Cannes.
She stunned her co-hosts by explaining that their brief encounter had been so emotionally powerful that both of them ended up crying.
EXPLORE MORE: Christina Haack Ordered to Pay Ex-Husband Josh Hall $150,000 From Sale of $4.5 Million Tennessee Home
“It was the weirdest connection in the world. We were both crying,” she recalled.
During Monday’s guest-hosting appearance, Kotb said the unnamed man had invited her to coffee “a couple of times,” but she had continued to turn him down
Kotb said she believes love is still ahead of her and that she may need to take risks to find it, prompting Jenna Bush Hager to push her to accept the mystery man’s invitation
“It was strange. You know, when you have one of those… everything is firing on all cylinders? He kept saying, ‘Is this a dream? Is this real?’”
The two went their separate ways after the flight, but they unexpectedly crossed paths again at a business conference.
“[I] went to Cannes so we could talk about our company, and he was in the audience, randomly,” she said.
Kotb said they exchanged phone numbers and continued texting. She described the man as “very cute” and “very handsome.”
Weeks later, while speaking with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, she revealed more details about their initial encounter and offered a subtle clue about his career.
Kotb referred to him as an “AI guy,” suggesting that he works in technology, and said he divides his time between New York City and Miami.
She also explained that their first conversation began after he told her he was facing a difficult period in his life.
Kotb said she has hesitated because she fears taking the relationship further could disrupt the fun and uncertainty they currently share
Hoda shares daughters Haley, nine, and Hope, seven, with her former fiancé, Joel Schiffman
“He’s some AI guy… and he literally said, ‘I can’t sleep, I saw this image, and it really stuck with me,’” Kotb explained.
The man showed her a photograph of a child living in poverty in Africa.
“He said, ‘I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t sleep, so I started sending money and things there, and I realized, what the hell am I doing? We have one ride around the sun, what am I doing with my life?’” Kotb recalled.
According to Kotb, the experience inspired him to consider changing careers so he could focus on charitable work. Their discussion then turned into a deeper conversation about purpose and how they wanted to spend their lives.
“I was crying because he had this revelation, and he kept going, ‘Is this a dream?’ when we were talking,” Kotb said.
“I didn’t know if it was a connection, like, just a bond for a second, or something… I don’t know, I still don’t know.”
