Hoda Kotb Says People Assume She’s Her Daughters’ Grandmother

Today’s Hoda Kotb got candid about navigating social situations when people mistake her for her daughters’ grandmother.

The conversation began during the Tuesday, December 17, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna when Kotb, 60, read a viewer question on air.

“I’m an older mom. When I meet someone I likely won’t see again and they call me grandma instead of mom, should I correct them?” Kotb read. “I’ve corrected people before, and they’ve often been embarrassed and apologetic. Should I continue?”

Kotb quickly gave her opinion. “Yes, you should. Yes, you should,” she said. “That’s happened to me before.”

Kotb’s cohost Jenna Bush Hager appeared shocked by the admission. “Someone called you grandma?” Bush Hager, 43, asked, to which Kotb replied, “Yeah, someone said, ‘Oh, are you their grandma?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m their mom.’”

Kotb appeared unfazed by the remark, while Bush Hager’s jaw dropped. “It’s not my ‘ouch,’” she added. “I can get where, if it happened non-stop all the time, I think it would probably get annoying.”

Kotb explained that her reasoning behind correcting people is because of her children. “More than me, because I didn’t care, it’s what your kids see and think,” Kotb said. “I think for your kids’ sake, you should say, ‘Oh, no, actually.’ But also, don’t take offense. As I tell my kids, some moms are older, some moms are younger, some are taller, some are shorter.”

“Some moms are tired. Some moms are frazzled,” Bush Hager interjected, while Kotb said, “Some moms are exhausted.” Bush Hager added, “Some moms want to crawl into the pantry and eat a string cheese. Some moms like to hide in the bathtub and lock the door, hoping not to hear the sounds … I’m just kidding. Most moms love their kids.”

Kotb clarified that “we all do,” before adding, “Sometimes some moms want to sit in the minivan and just say they are about to go somewhere, and then not go anywhere. Just sit in it.”

When Bush Hager asked whether she had cried in the minivan, Kotb replied, “Oh, yeah. It’s like another house. You just go outside.” After Kotb laughed at her remark, Bush Hager replied, “When you start sleeping in the minivan, we are going to have a problem.”

Kotb became a mom when she adopted daughter Haley in 2017 and daughter Hope in 2019, with her then-partner, Joel Schiffman. Kotb and Schiffman got engaged after six years of dating in 2019 before sharing in 2022 that they parted ways. Bush Hager, for her part, shares daughters Mila, 11, and Poppy, 9, and son Hal, 5, with husband Henry Hager.