Hoda Kotb looked happier than ever as she reunited with Kevin Costner at the 2025 Super Bowl.
“Oh what funnnnn!!!” Kotb, 60, captioned her Instagram post on Sunday, February 9. The former Today host shared several photos from her time in New Orleans while watching the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, including a pic of herself and Costner, 70, smiling from ear to ear.
Savannah Guthrie was quick to leave a cheeky comment on her former cohost’s post, alluding to a romantic pairing between Kotb and Costner.
“New couple alert,” Guthrie, 53, wrote, tagging fellow Today personality Jenna Bush Hager.
“We have been waiting for this moment!” Bush Hager, 43, said, adding a heart emoji. (Fans responded to both comments, agreeing with the women and “shipping” Kotb and Costner.)
Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager formed a strong bond both on and off the small screen. Kotb and Bush Hager joined NBC’s Today in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and went on to cohost the show’s fourth hour together following Kathie Lee Gifford’s 2019 exit. For over five years, the duo made fans […]
The jokes about a possible romance between Kotb and Costner started in June 2024 after the Yellowstone actor appeared on Hoda & Jenna. Viewers thought sparks were flying between the two, which Kotb addressed the following month on an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
“How do you feel about viewers shipping you and Kevin Costner after he appeared on Today last month and have the two of you connected since?” one viewer asked during the live show. Kotb said that she had “never, ever heard” about the comments until then.
The following day, Kotb quipped on Hoda & Jenna that fans wanting her to date Costner was “unbelievable.” (Kotb was married to Burzis Kanga from 2005 to 2008 before getting engaged to Joel Schiffman. The exes, who coparent daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, split in January 2022 after eight years together.)
“People were coming up to me on the streets,” Bush Hager explained. “I’m telling you, people were like, ‘You should set up Hoda and Kevin Costner.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize they were flirting behind my back.’”
Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb’s tenure on the Today show was full of many memorable moments. The TV personality announced in September 2024 that she would be departing the iconic morning show after 26 years on NBC, 16 years as a Today cohost and seven years as Savannah Guthrie’s co-anchor. “I just turned 60, and it […]
Kotb said there was “no flirting” between herself and Costner, who split from Christine Baumgartner last year after 18 years together.
“I did love when he had his people who were here and they were just talking about him, they were like, ‘He is so funny,’” Kotb recalled, referring to those who work with the actor. “And they were describing, like, he likes to eat baked beans out of the can. Like, he’s just a regular person.”
Bush Hager joked, “The baked beans out of a can is what turns you on?”
Kotb was quick to clarify, “No. I just like that he wasn’t fancy. I thought that was really cool.”
