Kelly Clarkson Had the Best Response to "Today" Star Hoda Kotb's Honest Dating Confession

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More than two years after Hoda Kotb split from her fiancé Joel Schiffman, it looks like she may be ready for new love in her life.

While the Today show host has hinted at wanting to date again since her January 2022 split, she made a surprise confession about her dating life while promoting her new book Hope Is a Rainbow on The Kelly Clarkson Show. As she spoke to host Kelly Clarkson about dedicating Thursdays to taking care of herself (which she coined "Thankful Thursday"), she opened up to Clarkson and the audience with a secret confession: she went on her first date since her breakup.

"So here's the truth," she told Clarkson during the March 5 taping. "Something did happen the other day that hasn't happened in two years. I had a date."

Upon hearing the children's book author's unexpected life update, Clarkson couldn't help but congratulate her for taking a step back out into the dating world.

"That's huge, even to be in a place to do that," Clarkson responded.

"You know what it was?" a replied. "It was nothing but a date… Do you ever think about going out on a date?"

"Not at all," Kelly laughed, referencing her own divorce. "Not even a little bit. I am really loving not having a man in my life! There’s all the jobs, plus the kids, plus being present for the kids while you’re there. ‘Cause sometimes people will still email you, and I’m like, 'No, no, no, we’re home now. We’re not doing this.'"

When fans caught the heartfelt interaction, they couldn't help but praise Hoda for stepping out of her comfort zone to find love again. "Hoda always comes off as salt of the Earth. Personable, loving, supportive, and oh so smart. I love her happiness! Their friendship is lovely!," one person wrote on YouTube. "I love Hoda so damn much. ❤️," another added.

As some may remember, Hoda and Joel (who share daughters Haley Joy and Hope Catherine) ended their engagement and she revealed the news on a taping of Today. Since then, she has expressed multiple times her openness to find love again, even recruiting Jenna Bush Hager and Savannah Guthrie to help her in the process.

"I actually trust you guys implicitly," she said on the Today show in March 2023. "If you thought somebody was good for me, I would trust you and go out on that date."

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