Racing on Hyperdrive
As the crew buckled me into a cramped
race car, a surge of adrenaline made me
feel sick. I prayed I wouldn’t throw up.
I was on a racetrack with the stars of
Hyperdrive, the new Netflix reality
show that bills itself as “The Fast and
the Furious meets American Ninja
Warrior.” As a stunt coordinator showed
me how to hit targets at 100 mph, I gasped
for breath, mostly so I could scream out swear
words. The Charlize Theron-produced show features street racers
competing on a huge—and treacherous—obstacle course. As I got out
of the car, my knees buckled, and all I wanted was to lie down. The
lesson was clear: Hyperdrive is not for the faint of heart. —STEVE HELLING
On Sept. 3 Hoda Kotb will be
back on air at NBC’s Today,
but in the meantime she’s
been having the summer of
her life with her family of
four—thanks to extending her
maternity leave to five
months in order to spend
more time with her partner
Joel Schiffman, 61, and their
daughters Haley, 2, and
Hope, 4 months.
“I think that at the end of
your life, if you’re going to
write down what was the best
summer of your life, this will
be that for me,” says Kotb, 55,
who spent the past few
months with her kids at the
beach. Though she was
initially supposed to return to
work midsummer, Kotb says
she realized that this time
with her family was too
special to give it up so soon.
“There’s something inside
of you that tells you this
is happening one time...
and that’s it,” she says of
becoming a new mom again
when she adopted Hope
last April. “Work is incredibly
Hoda Heads
Back to Work
‘WORK IS
INCREDIBLY
IMPORTANT,
BUT I DO UNDER
STAND WHAT
MY NORTH
STARS ARE NOW’
important, but I do under
stand what my north stars
are now.” She adds, “I know
I come from a place of
incredible fortune to take a
maternity leave longer than
most people are allowed. I’m
onmyknees grateful for that,
because it matters to me. It’s
not something
everybody can do.
We all need to pay
bills. But I feel like if
you are at a point
where you feel
like you can do it,
you should.”
Still, Kotb says the summer
wasn’t all fun and beach
games. “I worked harder on
maternity leave than I did at
work. You’re up at
the crack of dawn,
and you’re up all
hours. Stayat
home moms should
be called workat
home moms. It’s
work. But it’s the best work
I did in my life. I don’t know
if my kids will remember it,
but I will always remember.”
—CHARLOTTE TRIGGS
Family Time
Kotb (with Haley,
below, and at
right, with Haley
and Hope) says
her maternity
leave “was the
best summer
I will ever have.”
We Tried It!
Hyperdrive
producer
Charlize Theron
takes a spin on
the show.
PEOPLE September 2, 2019 27
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