“Today” anchor Hoda Kotb has opened up about battling the loneliness that millions of Americans are now feeling.
She’s living outside New York City with her fiancé, Joel Schiffman, her partner of six years, and their two young daughters and she leaves for work at 3:45 a.m. every today to helm the NBC show from 30 Rock.
In an exclusive interview with Page Six, Kotb admitted: “I do know what lonely feels like.
“I spent most of my life by myself with the exception of the last six years, and I do have to say that with everything going on, to be able to turn the doorknob and have two kids yelling as if I’ve been gone for days is incredible.”
Kotb and Schiffman have planned a destination wedding for early fall and she said they hope it won’t have to be rescheduled. “We’ve actually had a lot of beautiful moments we wouldn’t have had” amid the quarantine, she said.
“The ‘Today’ show is normally teeming with people. Even when I arrive, there are people outside 30 Rock waiting for the show to start — they’ve made trips to come see us. But [now] there’s literally not a soul outside,” said Hoda. “I go into the studio and you can hear your footsteps echoing [because] there’s no one there.”
There are no stylists or makeup artists: Both Kotb and Savannah Guthrie do their own hair and makeup. Kotb said, “I do my hair with, like, a curling iron from the ’80s and really don’t lay eyes on anyone until Savannah pops up on the monitor.”
Guthrie — who has been broadcasting live from her basement studio after developing cold symptoms — said: “Hoda’s incredibly strong, she’s tough as they come, but she’s full of heart.”
Talking about the moment that Kotb burst into tears as Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced his $5 million donation to help Louisiana, Guthrie said, “This … was so hard to watch and I just wanted to give her a hug and I think that every single person watching felt that way.”
They are both still mourning the loss of Larry Edgeworth, a 61-year-old “Today” audio technician, who died two weeks ago after contracting coronavirus.
“He was just one of those people who was the beating heart of this place. He was around for decades and … was really kind, humorous and a rock-solid presence,” said Guthrie, who spent two months on the 2008 presidential campaign trail with Edgeworth.
“The loss of Larry just broke open our news division. This guides us when we talk about this, because we know someone and loved him and it’s very personal.
“I don’t think any of us recognized just how profoundly how each and every one of us would be personally affected.”