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TV host Hoda Kotb recently responded to viewers hoping she’ll date actor Kevin Costner one day — and her reaction was quite amusing.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” Kotb responded to a question from a fan who appeared virtually to ask the “Today with Hoda & Jenna” co-anchor whether there was a possible romantic connection between Kotb and the Oscar-winning actor.
“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?” the guest asked.
Kotb seemed surprised by the question, sharing that she had no idea people were giving thought to the possibility of her dating Costner.
Nonetheless, the TV host didn’t exactly shut down the idea.
“Well, if the viewers want it,” she said with a laugh.
Host Andy Cohen later asked Kotb if she’d be interested in meeting someone on a dating app, but the “Today” anchor didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea of swiping left or right.
“I think I’d like for someone to say, ‘I know this person,’” she said, adding, “That would make me feel better.”
Costner split from his wife of 19 years, Christine Baumgartner, last year.
In June, he shut down rumors that he was dating Jewel after they were first romantically linked in December.
He said in an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” that they had “never gone out, ever.”
On Wednesday’s broadcast of “Today,” co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager pressed Kotb about her “WWHL” appearance, saying that she had also been approached by strangers who hoped Kotb and Costner would date after he appeared on the show.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize they were flirting behind my back,’” Bush Hager joked before introducing a video montage that showed Kotb and Costner’s interactions from the June interview.
Kotb didn’t divulge much on whether she’d be interested in dating Costner, but she did note that she was quite amused to learn from people close to the actor that he eats “baked beans out of the can.”
“I liked that he wasn’t fancy,” she said. “I thought that was really cool.”