Hoda Kotb Hosts ‘Today’ With Savannah Guthrie for 1st Time in a Year
What To Know
- Hoda Kotb returned to co-host NBC’s Today with Savannah Guthrie for the first time in over a year.
- Kotb had previously left the show in January 2025 to spend more time with her daughters but continued making guest appearances to promote her projects.
- Her return comes as Craig Melvin takes a vacation, and follows Guthrie’s recent comeback after a two-month absence due to her mother’s disappearance.
NBC’s Today started the week with a sweet on-screen reunion.
“Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to Today. A pretty day out on our Plaza,” Savannah Guthrie said at the top of the show’s Monday, April 13, episode. She went on to state she was “happy” to have Hoda Kotb back alongside her in Studio 1A.
“Hoda’s Here!” she exclaimed. “I still feel every time we walk out, people are like, ‘Could she possibly [come back]?’ Yes! Now, she’s here. We’re so glad to have you this week.” Kotb, for her part, said she was “so happy to be sitting back in this chair next to you this week, too.”
Guthrie went on to note that her co-anchor, Craig Melvin, was “getting a good vacation” this week, something Kotb said was “much deserved.”
Guthrie and Melvin previously announced Kotb’s return to the show on the Thursday, April 9, episode of Today. “Speaking of tomorrow, Craig, you are heading off on a very well-deserved vacation. You’ve been holding it down here for a long time. So, you’re gonna have a spring break,” Guthrie stated before adding, “And Monday, we’re gonna try a new host here. Her name is Hoda, and she’s gonna fill in for you next week. So, that will be fun.”
Melvin joked, “Oh, I’ve heard of her! That will be fun. I won’t see you. I won’t turn on the TV, but it’ll be fun.” Guthrie agreed, telling her co-anchor, “Yeah, don’t. You’re not supposed to watch on your vacation.” (Weekend Today‘s Laura Jarrett and Sunday Today‘s Willie Geist filled in for Guthrie and Melvin on Friday, April 10.)
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Monday’s episode marked the first time Kotb has co-hosted the show with Guthrie since January 2025. She first took on the co-anchor role following Matt Lauer‘s 2017 sexual misconduct scandal and firing in 2017. Last January, she bid farewell to the NBC morning show to spend more time with her two daughters, Haley and Hope, whom she shares with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.
She continued to make appearances on Today to promote her latest projects, such as her wellness company, Joy 101, and her latest book, Jump and Find Joy. In February, however, she returned to the show in a temporary full-time capacity to fill in for Guthrie amid news of her mother Nancy Guthrie‘s disappearance.
Nancy was last seen at her home in Tucson, Arizona, on January 31, and was reported missing the following day. In addition to Kotb, Jarrett and Sheinelle Jones also stepped in for Savannah during her two-month-long absence.
Kotb skipped an entire week of shows before Savannah made her highly anticipated Today return on April 6. “These signs are so beautiful. You guys have been so beautiful,” Savannah tearfully stated last week while greeting fans on the 30 Rockefeller Plaza. “I received so many letters, so much kindness, to me and my whole family. We feel it. We feel your prayers, so thank you so much.”
Kotb shared love for Savannah’s first day back via Instagram on April 6. “With you xoxo,” she captioned a throwback snap of Guthrie with her two children, Vale and Charley, whom she shares with her husband, Michael Feldman.
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