Craig Melvin Emotionally Reflects on LandingToday's Top Anchor Seat: 'This Is a Gift and It's Not Lost on Me' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Craig Melvinadmits he’s generally not an anxious person. He doesn’t “really do excited” either. But reality was setting in as he welcomed PEOPLE into his Westport, Conn., home just days before hebegan his new job asToday’s co-anchoralongsideSavannah Guthrie.

“I’m nervous,” he says. “The show is a beloved national institution that has been around for about 73 years. No one wants to be the person who’s at the helm of the ship when the ship finds ice.”

“But I’ve never donethis,” he says. “I’m anxious but at the same time, it’s the first time I’ve been this excited about anything outside the day I got married and the birth of my two children. I am beyond stoked.”

Craig Melvin at home in Westport, CT on Jan. 6, 2025.Allison Michael Orenstein

Allison Michael Orenstein

The newsman, who sharesson Delano, 10, and daughter Sybil, 8, with wifeLindsay Czarniak, is taking over the position from longtimeTodayanchorHoda Kotb, whosaid her farewellson Jan. 10 after 17 years at the show.

“Those aren’t shoes you step into,” says Melvin. “We’ve put those shoes on the shelf, because that’s an impossible feat. I’m just going to wearmyshoes and keep my fingers crossed.”

Kotb has no doubt that the job is in good hands. “He is the natural perfect person,” she says. “I told him, ‘There’s nothing to be worried about. You have all the things that you need.’”

Craig Melvin on ‘Today’ on Jan. 13, 2025.Nathan Congleton / TODAY

Nathan Congleton / TODAY

Craig Melvin and Lindsay Czarniak at home in Westport, CT on Jan. 6, 2025.Allison Michael Orenstein

Czarniak, 47, has been cheering Melvin on since he began working for MSNBC in 2011 as a weekend anchor. As he took on new positions as a NBC News correspondent, thenWeekendTodayco-anchor andDateline Extraanchor, he pitched ideas forToday. “I remember being just awestruck,” he says of stepping into Studio 1A for the first time. “I wanted to become a part of theTodayshow ecosystem.” In 2018 he got his wish when he became aTodaynews anchor and host of3rd Hour Today.

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As Melvin reflects on his “exciting” next chapter, he admits it’s a “scary” time. “If you spend decades working toward something, and then all of a sudden you get it, it’s like, ‘Okay. Well, crap. Well now, I don’t want to screw it up.’ And that’s where I am now. I just don’t want to screw it up.”

But Melvin’s colleagues’ confidence in him is unanimous, and Kotb says he will be in good hands alongside Guthrie, “the best partner in the entire world. She’ll catch you, you can be completely yourself.”

Craig Melvin.Allison Michael Orenstein

Adds Guthrie, “We support each other and have each other’s backs. Craig has proven himself to be an incredible journalist, a basically flawless broadcaster, a warm, engaging interviewer and a wonderful colleague and teammate. We’re just so lucky that the perfect person for this job was sitting right next to us the whole time.”

Melvin notes that he and Guthrie have become “dear friends” over the years, “so going on this adventure with her is something that I’m really excited about.”

He also has two very important people in his corner, his parents Betty Jo andLawrence. “They believed in me long before anyone else,” Melvin says with tears in his eyes. “I didn’t fully appreciate how much they had sacrificed over the years.”

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During his first broadcast as co-anchor on Jan. 13, Melvin dedicated a toast to his parents who were on set: “Without them and the sacrifices they made when I was a kid, I’m not here,” he said.

Now, he’s ready to take in his new view from the top for a long time. “Hoda’s inspiring a lot of people. She’s leaving at the top of her game. That’s not going to be me,” he says with a laugh. “They’re going to wheel me out of that place. I’m taking theAl Rokerapproach. You are going to get so sick of seeing and hearing Craig Melvin. I’m not going anywhere.”

TheTodayshow airs weekdays on NBC beginning at 7 a.m. ET.

source: people.com