Kotb left the NBC morning show in January after 17 years

Hoda Kotb isn’t putting a timeline on dating and finding love.

The former Today co-host exclusively opens up to PEOPLE in this week’s cover story about why she hasn’t been focused on romance following her departure from the NBC morning show in January.

Kotb, 60, says numerous factors have contributed to her not putting herself back out there in the dating pool just yet, including her family’s move to the suburbs, her kids starting a new school and her experiencing “a new kind of beginning life.”

“I’ve been really getting my sea legs,” she explains. “When it happens will be the time it’s supposed to happen.”

Hoda Kotb at home in April 2025.Brian Doben

“When things are supposed to end, they end. And when things are supposed to begin, they begin. But you have to be wide open because if you’re not, it’s not happening,” she continues. “So I think that chapter is yet to come, but I know it’s coming.”

The famed broadcast journalist adds, “And I’m excited for that chapter.”

Kotb was previously married to Burzis Kanga and engaged to Joel Schiffman, with whom she co-parents her two daughters, Haley, 8, and Hope, 6.

Elsewhere in this week’s PEOPLE cover story, Kotb opens up about her reasons for leaving Today after 17 years.

“I wasn’t able to bear witness to my kids’ daily lives because of what I was doing,” she says of Haley and Hope — the latter of whom is living with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that prevents the pancreas from making insulin, requiring vigilant blood sugar monitoring and frequent insulin injections.

Hoda Kotb and daughters Haley (left) and Hope (right) photographed at home.Brian Doben

“It’s really cool to just realize that there’s so much more to life,” she continues. “I used to think life was the big things, but it really is all the stuff that happens in between.”

To read more about Hoda Kotb’s life after Today, pick up the newest issue of PEOPLE on stands now.

Kotb has been settling into a new life, relishing the amount of time she has for her daughters and making plans for the future. She’s been hard at work launching a wellness company, Joy 101, complete with an app, live events and a subscription newsletter that will all center around themes of joy, mindfulness, meditation and wellness.

Despite leaving Today four months ago, Kotb slid right back into her old groove when reuniting with Jenna Bush Hager on the May 28 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends — and she had nothing but love for her friend.

Kotb told a teary-eyed Bush Hager she has been “literally crushing it” ever since her exit, saying, “I’ve been watching you every single day. You’ve been incredible. You’ve been crushing it, crushing it, you really have been.”