So *That’s* What Happened: The Actual Reason Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb Are Absent From the Today Show
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The Today show was looking very different on the third week of August. Savannah Guthrie has been absent most of the week, and on Friday, August 16th, both Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were missing from the show. But where was Guthrie most of the week and where was Kotb on Friday, August 16th?
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Savannah Guthrie has been co-hosting the main hour of the Today show since 2012. She first joined NBC News in 2007 as a legal analyst and correspondent. She then went on to serve as a White House correspondent and the co-anchor of The Daily Rundown. She co-hosted Today‘s third hour for one year before moving over to the main hour as a replacement for Ann Curry.
Hoda Kotb, meanwhile, has hosted the fourth hour of the Today show since 2007; first alongside Kathie Lee Gifford, and now, alongside Jenna Bush Hager. Kotb also serves as a co-host of the main hour, a role she’s held since 2018. In the span of her career, she’s been nominated for over 10 Daytime Emmy Awards and has won the Emmy for
Guthrie was noticeably absent for most of the week spawning from August 12 to August 16th. Kotb was similarly missing on Friday, August 16th. Understandably, fans were confused about their whereabouts. Keep reading to see where Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb were and why they were missing.
Where was Savannah Guthrie from Today?
Today‘s third-hour stars Sheinelle Jones and Craig Melvin filled in for Guthrie and Kotb on the August 16th show, explaining right off the bat that Guthrie and Kotb were starting their weekends a little early.
Melvin has been stepping in for Guthrie for most of the week as she spends time with her family, with Kotb mentioning earlier in the week that Guthrie was taking some “well-deserved” time off to celebrate her daughter, who just turned ten. Guthrie shared a tribute to her little girl on Instagram, with a caption that read “Ten years of this magical girl – my whole heart and soul. Happy birthday dearest Vale!”
The last time Guthrie was missing from the show was on July 23rd when she traveled to France to cover the 2024 Paris Olympics. Guthrie, along with Melvin, Kotb, and Al Roker, were featured on Today’s Olympics cover titled America’s Cheerleaders, which Guthrie shared on her Instagram.
Guthrie was also previously missing from Today during the April 26 broadcast where she left in the second hour. Kotb told viewers, at the time “Savannah left a little early today to get her weekend started.” After her exit, Guthrie shared an Instagram Story of singer Billianne performing on Today. “I missed her but check out @billiannee music – I’m a super fan!” Guthrie captioned the post.
Guthrie was also MIA during her usual time slot during the April 22 episode of the Today show. In her place was third-hour host Sheinelle Jones. Kotb told viewers that Guthrie was taking “some time off today.” Guthrie returned the following day on April 23, explaining that she took the long weekend off to spend time with her husband, Michael Feldman, and their son, Charley, 7.
Over that weekend, Guthrie shared a sweet picture of her husband and son, Charley enjoying the Philadelphia 76ers game against the New York Knicks. “Best lives lived – thank you @nba!! go @sixers!” she captioned the post. The mom of two (she also shares daughter Vale, 9, with Feldman) also shared several photos from the occasion on her Instagram Story, including a photo of the father-son duo reacting to Joel Embiid’s injury. “Eating his feelings,” Guthrie captioned a shot photo of Charley eating a bag of M&M’s and looking shocked.
While it’s unclear if Guthrie was at the game or reposted the pictures her husband and son took, the trip to Philadelphia is assumed to be the reason she was absent from that Monday’s taping. Luckily, the Today show has a slew of talented broadcast journalists on hand to fill in for the main anchors, including Jones, Willie Geist, Carson Daly, and more.
That Guthrie absence came shortly after Kotb took a day off for an undisclosed reason in late March. The newscaster was also absent from the April 10 episode, with Jones filling in for her. It was later revealed that Kotb missed the show to film the fifth anniversary of Today with Hoda & Jenna in New Orleans. Craig Melvin, who has co-hosted the show since 2018, was also missing for an entire week and the April 22 episode marked his first day back on air.
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