Hoda Kotb might have to wait a little bit longer to walk down the aisle with fiancé Joel Schiffman due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the coronavirus spreading like wildfire in the United States, the lockdown will likely be extended and all preplanned activities might have to wait till pandemic is firmly in control.
Hoda Kotb,55, is a journalist, television personality, and author. She is the anchor of the NBC News morning show Today and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour. Her fiancé Joel Schiffman is currently 62 and works as Vice-president at Janus Capital, a financial institution.
In an interview, Hoda said that she is ‘hopeful’ that she and Joel will be able to keep their original wedding date, but admitted that the couple is content to tie the knot wherever and whenever they can, as long as they are with their close ones.
‘We had the date scheduled and it’s in the calendar, we took care of the bookings and those kinds of things, so I think what we’re going to have to do is play it by ear because I don’t know, I’m not 100 percent sure what will happen as a result of this,’ she added.
Hoda and Joel started dating in 2013 after meeting through mutual friends at a Wall Street party. The couple then moved in together in 2016, with Schiffman helping raise the anchor’s two daughters, Haley and Hope. The pair got engaged in November during a romantic Mexican vacation, and had expected to tie the knot this fall, nevertheless if that can’t happen, the Today star asserted they aren’t going to stress about the date.
In the previous few months, Hoda had given viewers a few hints at what can be expected on her wedding day. Speaking on the Today show, she revealed that both of her daughters would be involved in the marriage ceremony and her wedding would be a ‘simple beach wedding’.
Hoda might have to postpone or even cancel her wedding plans, as the coronavirus pandemic seemingly going out of control and as of today there a more than half a million active cases and approximately 22 thousand deaths in the United States alone.