Has Hoda Kotb Ever Asked a ‘Today’ Guest for Their Phone Number?

Hoda Kotb has recruited the help of some famous faces on her journey to find new love.

During a game of “The Hot Seat” on the Wednesday, April 17, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, Kotb, 59, was asked whether she’s ever gotten a phone number from a guest. The TV personality responded that she has with the help of her cohost, Jenna Bush Hager, but noted things didn’t quite go as she hoped.

“We asked a guest ‘cause we liked this guest for me, but this guest was busy, taken and had children,” Kotb revealed. “And so, we asked about friends. So, we essentially asked for a number on the show, which I have.”

Bush Hager, whom Kotb said acts as her wingwoman, noted that Kotb asks for guests’ numbers not just to find a potential romantic connection. “She does both. Friend dates and date dates,” she explained.

The cohosts also discussed relationships at the top of Monday’s Hoda & Jenna episode, particularly the pros and cons of social media in today’s dating scene. “The thing with social media [is] you know everybody’s history,” Kotb stated. “You can’t escape your past and you can’t really pretend unless you’re pretending all the way on social media.”

Admitting that she has previously Googled romantic interests, Kotb said she sometimes likes “to know less” about a person before meeting them, teasing, “I feel like you don’t really get a fair shot at anything because, like we say, you’re different every few years.”

Bush Hager, 42, chimed in, adding, “If you’re just Googling for headlines, that isn’t getting to know somebody. That’s just a snapshot. That’s a single story of somebody.”

Kotb went on to highlight that it’s important to “trust your instincts” when it comes to love as sometimes “charming” guys can turn out to be the opposite.

“In the beginning, it’s great. You’re like, ‘Wow! They’re dazzling,’” she stated. “But after a while, then they’re trying to dazzle the waitress and dazzle this one and dazzle that one.”

Kotb has continuously been candid about her love life since splitting from her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, in 2022 after eight years together. “A date doesn’t mean anything other than you’re getting dressed up and you get to [put yourself out there],” she told Bush Hager last month after revealing she had been on a few dates.

She continued: “It’s also a time where it’s not about work or kids. It’s kind of nice sometimes to be a grown-up.” (Kotb shares daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 4, with Schiffman, 65.)

Kotb sparked romance rumors with her driver, Eddie, earlier this month after sharing an Instagram selfie of the two of them. Bush Hager clarified on a recent episode of Hoda & Jenna that the duo’s relationship is strictly platonic.

“He’s your Eddie, but that didn’t mean he’s your romantic Eddie,” she stated, adding, “Any of y’all who thought that she had found ‘The One,’ she’s still looking.”