For Hoda Kotb, the 2024 Paris Olympics became the ultimate dream come true. And it wasn’t just about the sports – it was about meeting her idol, Tom Cruise!
The 59-year-old Today host was left starstruck after snapping an epic selfie with the 62-year-old Mission Impossible star. In the photo, Kotb beams with excitement, standing next to Cruise while braving the Paris rain in a poncho that exposes only a circle of her smiling face. Cruise, with wet hair, wears all black.
“Do you know when you dream of meeting Tom Cruise… And then it finally happens,” she captioned the snap of the two.
Kotb’s Today Show colleagues went wild over the iconic photo in the comments section.
“Icons only,” Savannah Guthrie wrote.
Carson Daly chimed in, writing, “Ok, you win the day.”
Jenna Bush Hager couldn’t resist teasing Kotb about wearing a large rain poncho when she met Cruise.
“In your dream were you wearing a poncho?” Hager joked.
Others also flocked to commend Kotb for the special moment.
“Love it! ONLY HODA could look Beaming Beautiful in a full Ponch with a Hood!” one follower commented.
Kotb is part of NBC’s team covering the 2024 Paris Olympics, which take place Friday, July 26, through Sunday, August 11. Kotb’s young daughters—Haley, 7, and Hope, 4—won’t be joining her for the global sporting event, but she recently shared a picture of the girls with her mother.
“Ohhhhh just got this one ,” she captioned a Saturday, July 27 picture of the trio huddled up together in a tight hug, each grinning from ear to ear.
Kotb previously spoke about how she plans to stay connected to her daughters while she’s away, explaining that she will be making a “Love You Loops” paper chain for her kids.
“I do a loop a day where we hide a little something like stickers or hair ties, and then they know how many days are left,” she explained on the Monday, July 22, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna.
Hager quipped that her paper chain is “gonna be some long loops” since the Olympics last over two weeks.
Kotb shares her daughters with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman. The pair adopted Haley and Hope in 2017 and 2019, respectively, before ending their eight-year relationship in 2022.