‘Today’: Savannah Guthrie Cried Happy Tears After Undergoing Vocal Surgery
What To Know
- Savannah Guthrie returned to Today for the first time after going on medical leave to undergo vocal cord surgery.
- Guthrie documented her surgery experience, from the procedure to her recovery and more.
- Guthrie shared her excitement over coming back to work on Today next week.
Savannah Guthrie is “so happy to be back” on Today after being on hiatus to undergo vocal cord surgery.
Guthrie appeared on the Friday, January 23, episode of the NBC morning show, her first since beginning her medical leave last month. In a prerecorded video package, Guthrie took viewers through the process of her surgery and recovery.
“Back in 2008, my first year working for NBC News, I not only looked different, I sounded different, too. Over the years, I noticed as my voice got deeper and scratchier,” she said via voiceover. “But what I thought was just normal wear and tear and aging over time got much more noticeable, and this past year, much worse. Sometimes, it was hard to get through a sentence. No longer able to just ignore it, I went to see Dr. Peak Woo, one of the country’s leading voice specialists.”
Dr. Woo explained that Guthrie had a “hemorrhagic polyp on one side and [a] vocal nodule on the other side.” In Guthrie’s words, she had “a ruptured blood vessel on one vocal cord, and a callus from overuse on the other.”
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To remove the polyp, Guthrie underwent microlaryngeal surgery. Guthrie filmed herself before the surgery, stating that she was “so ready to get this over with and have a normal voice again.”
Guthrie’s husband, Michael Feldman, filmed her after the surgery. He joked, “Doc says it went really well, and that you can’t argue with me for a week.”
On a piece of paper, Guthrie asked Feldman if they could grab a milkshake. He said she could have “as many as you want.”
After a week of no speaking, Guthrie returned to Dr. Woo’s office to check her progress. He inserted a small camera up her nose and down her throat to view the results. To test her voice for the first time, he asked Guthrie to “say what you say every morning.”
Guthrie teared up as she pretended to give a morning report on Today. “Good morning. Today is Tuesday, January 13, 2026. I am using my voice for the first time, and it sounds good. I could cry,” she said before hugging Dr. Woo after the checkup.
While Guthrie’s voice is back and better than ever, she will continue to undergo voice therapy over the coming weeks.
Back in Today‘s Studio 1A, Craig Melvin said he “didn’t recognize” Guthrie when he heard her new voice for the first time. Sheinelle Jones related to Guthrie’s experience, as she underwent a similar surgery in 2020.
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“What do you think you learned from being forced to be quiet?” Jones asked Guthrie, who replied, “It was hard at first, like, you had to get the hang of silence and solitude. And being alone with yourself actually can be kind of terrifying. But I found it to be a beautiful, beautiful moment and a spiritual moment, and I’m so grateful. I’m grateful to all of you and this place and my bosses at NBC who have been nothing but supportive. To take three weeks off is a big, big deal, and I so appreciate it. And I’m just so grateful to be back, and I’m ready to go!”
She went on to joke, “The doctor did say, ‘Just don’t be in situations where people are loud and talking over each other.’ And I was like, ‘Have you seen the Today show?’”
Guthrie will officially return to the Today hosting desk on Monday, January 26.
Today, Weekdays, 7 a.m./6c, NBC
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