Hoda Kotb Sends Savannah Guthrie a Sweet Message for ‘Today’ Return

Hoda Kotb is standing by her friend Savannah Guthrie as she returns to the Today show for the first time since her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing 10 weeks ago.

The retired NBC News anchor took to Instagram on Monday morning (April 6) to share a photo of Savannah with her kids. “With you xoxo,” Kotb wrote alongside the image.

Savannah returned to the Today show on Monday following a two-month hiatus amid her mother’s presumed abduction. Nancy has been missing since January 31, when police believe she was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. While investigators have released doorbell camera footage of a masked suspect, no suspects have been named.

Kotb, who retired last January after 26 years at NBC News, returned to Today on February 6 to temporarily fill in for her former co-host and longtime friend.

 

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On her first episode back, an emotional Kotb told her co-hosts Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones, and Carson Daly, “This whole thing is breaking my heart, and I’m happy to be sitting here with you. I’ve been wandering around, going, ‘Where do we go?’ And I picture Savannah sitting there… Anyway, I just want to say good morning, and everybody’s hoping and praying for Nancy’s safe return.”

Kotb also spoke about how Savannah has always been there for her and her fellow co-hosts. “I was thinking this morning, you know, they say love is patient, love is kind. Like, we’ll be patient and put prayers up. And that’s all we can do,” she added.

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Savannah announced her return to Today in a sit-down interview with Kotb last month. “When I look at the Today show, it’s the answer to all of my dreams, actually better than my dreams,” she shared. “It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness.”

She added, “I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not. But I can’t not come back because it’s my family. I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile, and when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer.”

Savannah noted that the Today crew is her “family… [her] greater family,” explaining, “When times are hard, you want to be with your family. And I want to be with my family. And so I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore. But I would like to try.”