The Truth About Hoda Kotb's Short-Lived Marriage & Divorce

Hoda Kotb anchored "The Today Show" for years and banked a pretty chunk of change in the process. But despite her professional, on-screen success, Kotb has had her fair share of ups and downs personally — particularly when it comes to her love life. In 2022, for instance, she and Joel Schiffman famously split after three years of engagement and nine years as a couple. And before Schiffman came along, Kotb actually tied the knot with tennis coach Burzis Kanga, only for their marriage to end in divorce after three years. But what exactly went down there?

Well, according to Kotb herself, the fatal flaw of her short-lived marriage to Kanga was that it began as a result of the two growing complacent in their relationship and caving to expectations, rather than a genuine desire to commit to one another for life. "We let the idea that we should be married by now influence us. So, instead of us taking the opportunity to part ways and stay solo, he came out to visit and proposed during a Central Park horse ride ... and I said yes," Kotb recalled in her 2025 memoir, "Jump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life" (via Parade).

The journalist further remarked that she "didn't jump into marriage as much as I slipped into it," adding that she and Kanga were "comfortable together, it was time, and it seemed like the logical step." In retrospect, Kotb says her marriage was never going to last. And while she doesn't regret marrying Kanga, she acknowledges that having an open and honest conversation with him before they were in too deep might have saved them the trouble of divorce.

Elsewhere in her 2025 memoir, Hoda Kotb confessed that, years after she divorced Burzis Kanga and shortly before she ended her engagement to Joel Schiffman, she realized that she still had a lot of growing to do when it came to loving honestly. She had an epiphany while attending a retreat centered around changing one's habits for the better. "I knew I could say that I wanted to better myself or something vague like that. But when I looked around at all the people who'd shared their raw truth, I felt so moved by their honesty," Kotb wrote (via People), adding, "They deserved the same from me. So, I said it. I told the truth about why I had come. 'I am a total phony in my relationships,' I said. 'I'm a pretender.'"

Kotb has opened up about how her approach to relationships has changed. For instance, during an appearance on "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" in 2025, she discussed learning to meet people where they're at, and how she needs to be aware of someone's entire deal and what she's getting into before committing to them as a partner. "Like, if I chose to marry a plumber, and then he said, 'I have to get up in the middle of the night and fix a pipe,' and I said, 'Why are you getting up? Why are you leaving?' He's like, 'Because you married a plumber. That's what I do,'" Kotb said.