Hoda Kotb says Sandra Bullock encouraged her to adopt her daughters

She said: "On the way there, this sounds so weird, but Sandra Bullock was really helping with some guidance about like, 'Don't be scared'.

"She was one of the people who I looked to, to realise that someone like me of the same age could do these things."

Hoda said Sandra - who also adopted her two children, Louis, 11, and Laila, nine - sent her encouraging text messages, and was honest about how "beautiful" her life had become since she had her own kids.

She added to the first-ever episode of People's 'Me Becoming Mom'

podcast: "She described the most beautiful part of her life began when her kids entered it. She sent me some texts and I was reading them, and I was playing music by Ingrid Michaelson."

The 57-year-old television star and her fiancé, Joel Schiffman, are planning on adopting a third child, but their plans have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hoda recently said: "You know what's funny about the adoption stuff that's going on now?

"Apparently it's really slow during this time during COVID. I thought it would be a different game ...

"They said that a lot of people who maybe normally would feel like it would be something they'd want to do - have a child and give it to someone to raise because they couldn't - are holding on to things because they don't have anything in that moment, so that's what I've heard from our agency.

"Everything's slow."