
Hoda Kotb was born in 1964 in Oklahoma. Her parents are from Egypt, and when she was a child, they moved around a lot. "Grew up some in Morgantown, West Virginia, and mainly in Alexandria, Virginia," she told Today. "We went overseas back and forth. We lived in Egypt for a year, and Nigeria." In an interview at the 92nd Street Y, Kotb admitted that she experienced quite the culture shock when she spent time in Egypt as a kid. "I thought it was weird, I'll be honest," she recalled. "We had our hightop shoes on, our Nikes on, our backpacks, and they looked at us, our relatives, like we were crazy because we didn't fit."
Still, though, Kotb now says that so much of her heritage means the world to her. "Wonderful recipes, great traditions," she said on a red carpet interview. "I think the importance of family has never left me, ever... and I think there's a pride that comes with it. I mean, look: we came from history that goes back forever." She remembers playing near the Great Pyramids as a child, which she now appreciates in a way she didn't then.
Kotb was raised with some Egyptian traditions and cultural food, but she told the red carpet interviewer, "We're as Americanized as apple pie." While talking with Today, she elaborated, "My parents raised us red, white and blue."
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