Hoda Kotb has opened up about her fears of ageing and missing out on parenting milestones as she raises her two daughters: Haley Joy, six, and Hope Catherine, four. The 58-year-old NBC anchor discussed her anxieties about getting older during a recent episode of Bethenny Frankel’s Just B podcast. While speaking to the entrepreneur and former Real Housewives of New York City star, Kotb detailed her approach to parenting as an older mother to young girls. “I do have it sometimes,” Kotb said, when asked by Frankel if she has “anxiety” about ageing. “My dad died when he was 54, 55. I always think that the foundation he laid down was good for me. It helped me in my life.” Kotb was a junior in college at Virginia Tech when her late father, Abdel Kotb, died of a heart attack in 1986 at age 51. The Emmy-winning journalist became a first-time mother in 2017 when she adopted her eldest daughter Haley with ex Joel Schiffman. However, Kotb admitted that she “sometimes does the math” when thinking about being present for her daughters getting married or having children of their own. “I look at my mom, who’s 86, and I think to myself, ‘OK, what’s the difference here between me and her? 30 years. OK, that’s kind of good,’” Kotb said. “So I add 30 to Haley and I add 30 to Hope. And I think to myself, won’t that be spectacular? I can do that.” The Today host added, “Wouldn’t that be amazing? Do I get to see them get married? Maybe. That would be really good. Or do I get to see them have a child? Maybe. That would be really good.” While Hoda Kotb admitted that she sometimes has anxiety about watching her daughters grow up, she ultimately decided to not look at the future in a negative way. Rather, she explained how she chooses to focus on how “special” it would be to witness her daughters’ milestones. “I think about it, but I don’t think about it on the end of, ‘Oh, no, I won’t be able to…’ I would be delighted if all those things were possible, and I think that would be special,” she said. Kotb then recalled writing her mother’s age minus her age on the glass in the shower one day. “And I looked at the number and I was like,” she shared, clapping her hands. “What if you get that many years? That’s more than I got with my dad.” Meanwhile, Frankel, 52, opened up about her anxieties of getting older and missing out on moments with her 13-year-old daughter, Bryn. The Skinny Girl founder shared that it’s her daughter who tends to “do the math” on their age gap. “I watch her make the connection and then I watch her get distracted because it’s anxiety for her,” Frankel told Kotb. “We’re very close. It just keeps getting better, it’s so beautiful.” Elsewhere during the podcast, Hoda Kotb detailed the moment she learned she was going to become a mother for the first time. In the episode, the Today star shared the text she received from someone named Ashley at the adoption agency after her daughter Haley was born. The mother of two said that, after she saw the adoption agent’s number displayed on her phone, she took out a yellow pad of paper and wrote the time, 11:55. “This is the moment everything changes,” Kotb recalled thinking. “I knew it.” “And I took a deep breath and dialed the number, and I said, ‘Ashley?’ and she said two words to me. She said, She’s here.’” “I don’t know what birth feels like, and I bet it was amazing, but this was really close,” she added. Hoda Kotb adopted her second child, Hope Catherine, in April 2019. Earlier this year, Hope experienced health complications that caused her to spend time at the hospital. Upon returning to the Today show after a two-week absence, Kotb revealed that her then-three-year-old had been in the hospital’s intensive care unit. “My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Kotb told Today co-host Savannah Guthrie. “I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.” The journalist then expressed her gratitude for all those who helped her daughter and provided support for her family during the scary experience. “You know what I realised too, Savannah? It’s like, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out,” she said. “So I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell, who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful for my family and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you.” Read More Hoda Kotb reveals ‘terrible’ letter criticising her for being an older mother Hoda Kotb returns to Today show after three-year-old daughter Hope is discharged from hospital ICU Jenna Bush Hager discusses body image after revealing her grandmother once called her ‘chubby’ Keke Palmer says she faced ‘breast milk discrimination’ at airport Colin McFarlane diagnosed with prostate cancer 7 tips and tricks for hay fever relief

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Katie Taylor fights do not end the way her last one did – they just do not. Her first 22 as a professional might have differed in content, but they had a common conclusion: the visual of the Irish icon’s hand raised above her head. Sometimes, there was an extra coat of sweat clinging to her face. Sometimes, there were title belts draped over her still-burning shoulders. But the hand raised high? That was the constant. So, perhaps Chantelle Cameron didn’t get the memo. Perhaps she did but just didn’t care. Either way, the Englishwoman strolled into Dublin’s 3Arena in May and spoilt Taylor’s homecoming. For 10 rounds, the undisputed super-lightweight champion put her hands to work relentlessly, to ensure that one of them would be raised above her head on this night. For 22 fights, that was a moment reserved for Taylor. Not this time. But Taylor, in the months since the first defeat of her professional career – her first loss since Olympic disappointment at Rio 2016 – displayed a relationship with failure that is healthier than it has any right to be. “Failure causes you to analyse things a bit more. I think that’s where all the growth happens,” the 37-year-old told reporters ahead of her rematch with Cameron, which will play out on Saturday night and in the same building as their first clash. “Unfortunately, it has to be that way. You are forced to look at every single detail. In that aspect, it’s always a good thing. I definitely feel like I’m a better boxer now. “The last fight doesn’t consume me. I don’t think a loss is that big of a deal. Even after the Rio Olympics loss... you’re so heartbroken, you’re disappointed, but you focus on the next one. I don't wallow in self-pity too much. The next day [after the fight with Cameron], I was surrounded by family; I would’ve done the same thing if I’d been celebrating a win. I went back to training that week – I was preparing for the rematch that week!” As she did in May, Taylor will have the chance to erase the 0 in Cameron’s pro record on Saturday. As she did in May, Taylor will have the chance to take away the 32-year-old’s undisputed super-lightweight titles and add them to the undisputed lightweight gold that Taylor already possesses. The opponent, venue, and the reward on offer are the same. For Taylor, the result must not be. As such, the preparation has not been, either. “Mentally and physically, I feel a lot better going into this one, and that’s obviously a big deal. I think everyone can see that I wasn’t at my best in the last fight, but all credit to Chantelle; she did her job. You can’t afford to have flat nights at this level, I take responsibility for that.” Taylor, who has given more to women’s boxing and the sport overall than could ever be measured, was less giving when asked about what led to her “flat” performance in May. “I don’t think I should really expand on it,” she said. The pioneer lost by split decision that night, though some felt that the result was more clear cut than that. Did Taylor know, when the final bell sounded, that her unbeaten run was over? Could she tell before that, even? “I think during the fight I was focusing on trying to win the rounds, focusing on adapting,” she reflected. “I’m not the best at scoring a fight when I’m actually fighting. But I think the right winner won – speaking to my coach and family the next day, I know the right winner won.” Yet there was no hesitation about the prospect of a rematch. “No other fight would have made sense to me,” Taylor said. “It would have been a killer for me if I didn’t get this chance to fight her again. I do love the rematches; I always seem to come back as the better fighter the second time around.” Taylor will need to do just that on Saturday. She plays down the idea that there is more “pressure” this time, yet simultaneously acknowledges that the stakes are greater than ever before. It feels an illogical equation, but to Taylor, the maths add up. “Every fight there’s pressure, but it’s probably the most important fight of my career. I think it certainly would be one of the best wins of my career – one of the greatest nights of my career. This one’s definitely a must-win fight for me. “A lot of people, I think, are doubting me as well, so I love coming into those fights. I’m very, very grateful that I have this opportunity – not everybody gets a second chance, but I have one to make things right. And I’m very grateful to have a chance to box in front of everyone in Dublin again. “I knew it was gonna be a very loud arena that night, I knew it was gonna be a huge event, but it certainly was emotional when I walked out that night,” Taylor recalled, reflecting on one of the most special atmospheres at a boxing event in recent memory. “You can never really prepare for that.” The Irish people did not abandon Taylor in defeat. If anything, they are behind her more than ever, and that will be audible on Saturday. “I think the whole country realises this is a huge fight for me, and if it was loud last time, I can’t imagine how loud it’ll be this time. I think the Irish people have always been that way for me, even after defeats in my amateur career; I've always felt the love and support of the Irish people.” It is a mutual love that has inspired a unique legacy, yet Taylor rarely allows herself to think about the nights that crafted that legacy. “I always tend to focus on what’s next,” she said. “Who cares what happened in the past? I don’t think too much about [legacy], [but] I’m very grateful to have had an influence on the next generation and my nation as well; that’s very special to me obviously, that’s what it’s all about. There’s no point going through your career without having had any sort of influence on other people.” Just as she hesitates to look back, however, Taylor refuses to look too far ahead, even amid speculation that she could retire on Saturday – regardless of the result. “I’m not thinking that this is gonna be my last fight, or of any outcome other than a win,” she insisted. “I feel very fresh, so I know I have plenty more fights left in me, but I’ll obviously retire when I feel it’s the right time. I guess you guys can make your opinion as well, when you see me [this weekend], but I have no intentions of hanging up the gloves right now. Obviously I can’t do this forever, but retirement never came into my mind after the last fight, and I don’t think it’s ever good for a fighter to think of retirement going into any fight. Hopefully [my] legacy can continue, I just want to keep building.” Taylor’s legacy already stands above the vast majority of fighters to have laced up a pair of gloves, but if she wants to keep building, the next block will be attainable on Saturday. The only problem? It is in Cameron’s hands. Read More Who is fighting on the Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron undercard this weekend? What time does Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron start this weekend? How to watch Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron online and on TV this weekend Why Katie Taylor’s rematch with Chantelle Cameron has all the makings of a classic Taylor questions whether women’s boxing is capable of switch to three-minute rounds Katie Taylor ‘aware of what is at stake’ in Chantelle Cameron rematch