Craig Melvin Jokes Savannah Guthrie 'Decided to Bail' After 3 Days as He AnchorsTodayWithout Her

Mar. 15, 2025

Craig Melvin on ‘Today’ on Thursday, Jan. 16.Photo:NBC

NBC

Craig Melvinisn’t even a week into his tenure as co-anchor of theTodayshow and already his other co-anchor has left him.Melvin, 45, joked aboutSavannah Guthrie’s absence at the top of the Thursday, Jan. 16, episode of the NBC morning show.“Welcome toToday, so glad you’re with us on this busy Thursday morning,” Melvin said. “Laura Jarrett is in, Savannah’s a little under the weather.“Melvin took the opportunity to crack a joke about Guthrie, 53, quipping, “I know what you’re thinking, that after three days of Craig she decided to bail…““I wasn’t going to say it,” Jarrett, 41, jokingly replied. “But it’s nice to be with you.“Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin on ‘Today’.Nathan Congleton/NBC via GettyMelvin kicked off his first day as the co-anchor of theTodayshow on Monday, Jan. 13, after taking over in the wake ofHoda Kotb’sexit from the showafter 17 years. Longtime journalist Melvin thanked Guthrie for her warm welcome on Monday and assured her, “Let’s go. And there’s no one I would rather ride with than you.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The reporting duo appeared onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonon Wednesday, Jan. 15, to discuss their new partnership.“This is the Craig Era,” Guthrie gushed of her co-anchor. “We’re in our Craig Era.“But Guthrie also said she’s been in close contact with Kotb, 60, since the former anchor’s exit.“I’m maybe talking to Hoda more than ever,” Guthrie quipped. “We talked every single day. She actually got up earlier than me on Monday. Hoda wakes up at 3 a.m. on Saturday. We FaceTime with her.“Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.Todd Owyoung/NBC via GettyMelvin recentlygot candid with PEOPLEabout his nerves ahead of the big transition.“I’m nervous,” he admitted in PEOPLE’s cover story. “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.”He added, “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.”The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!Kotb marked her final day on theTodayshow on Friday, Jan. 10, after making the decision to step down from the morning show back in September. Kotb shed light on her decision to spend more time with herdaughtersHaley, 8, and Hope, 5.“I knew that I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie,“Kotb told PEOPLEin October 2024. “I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them.”

Craig Melvinisn’t even a week into his tenure as co-anchor of theTodayshow and already his other co-anchor has left him.

Melvin, 45, joked aboutSavannah Guthrie’s absence at the top of the Thursday, Jan. 16, episode of the NBC morning show.

“Welcome toToday, so glad you’re with us on this busy Thursday morning,” Melvin said. “Laura Jarrett is in, Savannah’s a little under the weather.”

Melvin took the opportunity to crack a joke about Guthrie, 53, quipping, “I know what you’re thinking, that after three days of Craig she decided to bail…”

“I wasn’t going to say it,” Jarrett, 41, jokingly replied. “But it’s nice to be with you.”

Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin on ‘Today’.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Melvin kicked off his first day as the co-anchor of theTodayshow on Monday, Jan. 13, after taking over in the wake ofHoda Kotb’sexit from the showafter 17 years. Longtime journalist Melvin thanked Guthrie for her warm welcome on Monday and assured her, “Let’s go. And there’s no one I would rather ride with than you.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The reporting duo appeared onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonon Wednesday, Jan. 15, to discuss their new partnership.

“This is the Craig Era,” Guthrie gushed of her co-anchor. “We’re in our Craig Era.”

But Guthrie also said she’s been in close contact with Kotb, 60, since the former anchor’s exit.

“I’m maybe talking to Hoda more than ever,” Guthrie quipped. “We talked every single day. She actually got up earlier than me on Monday. Hoda wakes up at 3 a.m. on Saturday. We FaceTime with her.”

Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Melvin recentlygot candid with PEOPLEabout his nerves ahead of the big transition.

“I’m nervous,” he admitted in PEOPLE’s cover story. “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.”

He added, “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.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Kotb marked her final day on theTodayshow on Friday, Jan. 10, after making the decision to step down from the morning show back in September. Kotb shed light on her decision to spend more time with herdaughtersHaley, 8, and Hope, 5.

“I knew that I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie,“Kotb told PEOPLEin October 2024. “I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them.”

source: people.com