How Tall Is Hoda Kotb? The TV Anchor Had A Height Advantage Over Her Ex Joel Schiffman

You may not have known this about Hoda Kotb, but the former "Today" anchor is pretty tall. It wasn't easy to gauge on TV, given that she was often seated, but Kotb is 5 feet, 9 inches. That is well above the 5 feet, 3.5 inches of the average American woman. Add another few inches courtesy of heels and pumps, and she towers over many of the women around her — actually, not just women. Kotb also seems to be considerably taller than her ex-fiance, Joel Schiffman.

When we look at pictures of the two together, we get the clear sense that she is taller than him. During a Greenwich International Film Festival gala event in June 2015 (seen below), Kotb put their height difference on display while posing next to Schiffman. Granted, she wore stiletto heels to the gala, increasing the discrepancy by a few inches. But even if we deduct that extra height, we can see that she still has a height advantage over her ex. 

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Kotb made an exception to her preferences when she fell for Schiffman. "I used to like guys who were a little heftier," she said on "Today with Hoda & Jenna" in 2015. Her own height may have influenced that preference. "I liked the big guys because they made me feel tiny and delicate," she laughed. Smaller men, she noted, often made her feel uncomfortable whenever they tried to lift her off the ground because they thought it was funny. But things changed over the years. As her co-anchor Jenna Bush pointed out, "You have a new type." 

Over the years, Hoda Kotb learned she didn't really have a specific type. Joel Schiffman was living proof of that. Even though she never said "I do" to the financier, Kotb's relationship with her ex-fiance proved successful. For starters, it lasted longer than her actual marriage. Kotb tied the knot with Burzis Kanga in December 2005 but filed for divorce in February 2007, just a little over a year into it. On the other hand, she was with Schiffman for nearly a decade.

After meeting in 2013, Kotb and Schiffman split in 2022. With Schiffman, Kotb adopted two daughters, allowing her to start the family she had longed for. After Kotb's heartbreaking experience with breast cancer and subsequent treatment in 2007, she faced infertility struggles. But Haley and Hope came into their lives and made her a mother in her 50s. When Kotb and Schiffman called off their engagement, they vowed to continue to prioritize their family over their differences. And they have.

Now that she's single again, Kotb doesn't know which physical traits will catch her eye next time. "I don't see his face. It's not like, 'Oh, I want X, Y.' I don't even care about X, Y, and Z. Tall, short, bald, not bald. I don't care. But I know the essence, and I can sense the soul of that person," she said on "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" in 2024. Kotb is ready for love in whatever shape or form it comes.