Hoda Kotb opens up about her fears when it comes to her daughter Hope’s Type 1 diabetes battle.
“Everybody has something,” the former Today anchor, 62, said. The United States today in an interview published on Tuesday, September 29. “I worry about my youngest daughter, who has diabetes. I worry. I go to sleep, I look at my phone all night to see what her numbers are doing. I wake up and see. That’s just constant. That’s how it is.”
Kotb said she has learned ways to deal with her wellness brand, Joy 101, and the company’s annual tours. (The most recent fall retreat, hosted at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida, ran from Friday, September 25, to Sunday, September 27.)
“I can go in there and do some breathing work [session] and let go of all that I carry. And now I’m going back to Hope and [daughter] Haley, full tank, let’s go,” she explained.
Kotb shares Hope, 7, and Haley, 9, with an ex-girlfriend Joel Schiffman. The couple dated for eight years before announcing their split in January 2022.
Kotb revealed Hope’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in May 2025, calling her youngest daughter a “trooper” for dealing with insulin injections and blood sugar monitoring.
“It’s kind of constant care for Hope. We’re monitoring her 24/7,” she told People at the time. “She was getting shots – four or five a day – every day for a year. Now she doesn’t get them as often because we have other ways to get what she needs, but there’s a lot. Some kids can have sweets and she can’t. If she gets up at night, we have to take care of her at night.
Despite her health problems, Kotb said Hope is a “happy, healthy, rambunctious, wonderful child, and we have to watch her.”
She said, “Diabetes is a part of her, but not everyone has it. I hope it shapes her but it doesn’t define her.”
Courtesy of Hoda Kotb/Instagram Hoda Kotb’s youngest daughter, Hope, is making great strides after her health scare last year. “We’re in a place where Hope is thriving. She’s getting better, we’re watching her, and I think, as time goes on, we’ll get a better handle on it, but we’re already seeing big differences,” Kotb, […]
Hope’s diagnosis played a role in Kotb’s decision to leave them Today show after 17 years in January 2025.
“I really wanted and needed to be here to keep an eye on her. So, when she needs anything, and it can happen at night, several times, I’m up – I’m up,” explained Kotb. “But I would never want Hope to grow up one day and say, ‘Oh, my mom quit her job because [of me].’ He was not alone. But if you look at it cumulatively, it was part of that decision. “
Kotb also shared an update on Hope’s health battle with Us in May 2025.
“She’s definitely found her sea legs and we’re learning how to manage her diabetes,” she said. “I feel that a lot of parents and families go through it. When the children are little, it’s hard. They want what they want and it’s hard.”