Hoda Kotb Fangirls Over This Hollywood Heartthrob in Candid New Photo

Even a broadcast journalist like Hoda Kotb (who interviews high-profile guests and celebrities on television) can get starstruck by a Hollywood heartthrob—particularly if said celebrity is none other than Mr. Mission Impossible himself, Tom Cruise. 

Last week, the Today With Hoda & Jenna co-host posted a candid photo of herself standing next to the mega-star on her Instagram account. (FYI, the two met for the first time at the 2024 Paris Olympics.) ​​

The cheeky snap shows the 59-year-old newscaster wearing a plastic poncho and standing next to Cruise in the pouring rain. As he smiles from ear to ear, the Top Gun star is wearing a black blazer with a matching collared shirt. 

Kotb wrote in the caption, “Do you know when you dream of meeting Tom Cruise…And then it finally happens.”

Cruise is not the only celeb Kotb has dreamt of meeting. During a segment on the Today Show, the mother of two shared that one of her “dream” guests to have on her Making Space podcast is none other than Sandra Bullock. 

“I’ve admired her, and she so shaped the pathway of my life,” Kotb said on an episode that aired on Tuesday, July 9. “I feel like I adopted my kids because I saw that it was possible through her at our same age, and I realized, ‘Wow, it can be done.'” She added, ​​“I feel like we would have an instant, beautiful conversation.”