‘Today’: Why Savannah Guthrie Is on New Year’s Day Show Despite Announcing Break
What To Know
- Savannah Guthrie appeared on the New Year’s Day episode of NBC’s Today despite announcing her break from the show.
- Guthrie previously revealed she would be undergoing surgery for vocal nodules and a polyp in early 2026.
- Ahead of her surgery, Guthrie enjoyed holiday and birthday celebrations with her friends and family.
NBC’s Today kicked off 2026 with all of its main hosts, including Savannah Guthrie.
Despite announcing that she was taking a break from the show to undergo vocal surgery, Guthrie appeared on the show’s Thursday, January 1, episode alongside Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Carson Daly. The hosts spent the episode reminiscing about Today‘s biggest moments of 2025 and expressing their gratitude to the show’s cast and crew.
The simple explanation for Guthrie’s Today appearance was that Thursday’s episode was prerecorded. The episode was the first prerecorded show aired this week, as Weekend Today‘s Laura Jarrett and Peter Alexander filled in for Guthrie and Melvin on Monday, December 29, Tuesday, December 30, and Wednesday, December 31. (Thursday’s episodes of the third hour of Today and Today With Jenna & Friends were also prerecorded.)
Guthrie shared her health update with Today fans last month, explaining that the show’s December 19 episode would be her last before undergoing surgery for vocal nodules and a polyp in early 2026. “It’s not a big, big deal, but I am gonna have to have a surgery real early in the new year and be off for a couple of weeks,” she told viewers.
Teasing her cohosts, Guthrie added, “You’ll love this, guys. I have to be silent for a couple of weeks. Totally silent. I know, the jokes write themselves.” Roker hilariously replied, “It’s the best time of the year for [your husband] Mike Feldman!”
Sheinelle Jones, meanwhile, shared the “silver lining” she experienced after undergoing her own vocal polyp surgery in 2020, telling Guthrie she will have “permission to be still.”
“The house gets quiet. The kids are gonna want to help you out,” Jones said before gifting Guthrie a dry-erase board. “This is what I had in my house, and now, my friend, I’m passing it to you.”
Guthrie went on to note that she was “really excited” about her upcoming surgery, as her issue has been “going on for years.” She also shared her hopes that the surgery will improve her singing abilities, stating, “I used to be able to sing, and then I couldn’t sing anymore, and then I couldn’t speak anymore. So, who knows? The tour’s happening in 2026. Let’s go!”
Guthrie’s Today return date has not been announced.
Ahead of her surgery, Guthrie enjoyed the holidays with her husband, Feldman, and their two kids — Vale, 11, and Charley, 9 — as well as celebrated her 54th birthday with family and friends.
“Birthday wish comes true every day with these beautiful people by my side – and a yellow finch at my window for good measure for a splash of my favorite color 💛,” she wrote alongside Instagram photos from her birthday festivities on Saturday, December 27.
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