Hoda Kotb Is Thrilled About Her New Home! See What ‘Today’ Host Has Said About Moving to the Suburbs

On Coping With Change

Hoda first publicly revealed she was moving with her children during an episode of her “Making Space” podcast in March 2024.

“I was thinking about moving. My kids and I are going to move somewhere to a new school, and I was reflecting on my life and how many times we moved when I was a kid,” she told guest Arthur Brooks during the episode. “And I remember once my parents moved us to Nigeria, I was in fourth grade, I was horrified. Like, we get to this place, the language was different, everybody seemed different and it was hard. I moved again in sixth grade.”

“It’s so funny because the stories I tell now as an adult, are the stories of how I endured or what I did to cope,” the longtime broadcaster continued. “Yet at the same time, as I’m preparing my kids, I feel like I’m trying to protect them from things that they should probably be into.”

On All of the Memories

Leaving behind her old apartment was hard, especially because she and ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman made so many memories there with Haley and Hope.

“I literally was sitting at my desk this morning, where I sit every single morning. I light a candle, I have my journal, I do my stuff. And I thought to myself, ‘This is the last Monday I’ll be sitting at this desk,’ ‘cause we’re moving this week,” she told cohost Jenna Bush Hager on Today.

“I remember them trying to crawl up the stairs and I remember, now, how they race up and down,” Hoda explained. “And I was thinking about the very first time we brought them home and carried them up those stairs in that car seat and placed them in a little thing and all the things that happened there. And I was looking through old videos of them, when they were so little, and it’s like you want to hold onto things and you want to let go.”

“And when I saw these videos of them when they were kids, little babies, I can’t believe I have a 7 and a 5-year-old,” she shared. “And I can’t believe all those memories. … There were so many things that we have built there.”

On How Her Kids Were Feeling

Hoda and the girls waited to move into the new home until finishes touches were put on the place. But spirits were high as they anticipated the move.

“I think they’re feeling good. We haven’t done it yet. They’re still painting something. So I think when that’s done, we’ll get in there. I think they’re excited,” she told People in July 2024.

“I think change is good for kids. I feel like another thing I learned from the podcast is the more people kind of re-pot, they pick themselves up by their roots and go back to another … They just get stronger,” she added. “It’s still scary when you’re in the air and your roots are dangling, but once you get planted in some really rich soil, you’re strong again. So I feel like the more you do, the better you are.”

On Gearing Up for the Move

After Hoda returned home from covering the 2024 Paris Olympics, she revealed that they were almost ready to move in.

“We haven’t officially moved in yet,” she told People in August 2024. “I was away in Paris, and then just getting back and dealing with my birthday and other things, it’s been on the back-burner. But we’re almost there!”

On Why She Wanted to Move

Hoda explained the reasoning behind her decision to relocate with her girls, despite working in Today’s Manhattan studio each morning.

“I want my kids to feel grass on their feet, and play in the yard, and ride bikes down the street, and run up and down the stairs,” she told People. “I just see that life for them in this perfect house in this beautiful little town where I know they’ll be able to blossom into beautiful, independent, strong women.”

On Repotting

The Hope Is a Rainbow author referred to the move as her “repotting phase” a number of times.

“It’s like my roots need a bigger pot,” Hoda explained. “You know when you take a plant out of a pot, and it’s roots are all twisted and tight? And then you put it in a bigger pot with fresh new soil and it just grows bigger and stronger? That’s the journey I’m on right now. And it’s going to hurt a little, to leave that pot that was so comfortable for so long. But in the end, it’s going to be exactly what we need.”

On Saying Goodbye

During a chat with Jenna on Today in August 2024, Hoda explained what it was like going through old stuff and packing.

“You gotta clear out. You can’t have something new if you have old stuff,” she said. “It works that way with everything in life. Clear it out. Say goodbye. Your kids only need this box of all their keepsakes.”

On Major Excitement

Haley and Hope were ecstatic when they learned they would each be getting their own rooms in the new home.

“[Haley and Hope] are so excited to have their own space, a reading chair. They’re excited about a reading chair. They’re excited about having a bean bag and their bed,” the proud mom shared.

On Her Kids Going to a New School

Part of the big period of change was that her kids would be enrolled in a new school.

“It’s all new — new kids, new school, new things, new everything,” Hoda explained. “And it’s funny because all I could think of was I want my house for the kids to feel warm and cozy and a place where they want to hang. And that’s it.”

On the 1st Day of School

After moving into the new home, Hoda shared what it was like to take her daughters to their first day of school in September 2024.

“Everything changed like that. I have a whole new town and a whole new school and all the new things,” she said on Today. “We went for our first day of school, I carried a coffee and I had sneakers [on], and I walked my kids to school like normal people. It was awesome.”

“I just thought, ‘You know what? Sometimes chapters change and you miss things.’ And I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it,’” Hoda said. “It was, like, a train of 10, 12 kids walking to school in a neighborhood.”