Savannah Guthrie is back on Today after being away for more than two months. She rejoined her co-anchor Craig Melvin at the desk on Monday, April 6. Her absence began after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing on February 1.
As the show started, Savannah pointed out the sunrise and greeted viewers, saying, “Pretty shot of the sun coming up. Good morning, welcome to Today on this Monday morning we are so glad you started your week with us and it’s good to be home.”
Craig Melvin responded warmly, “Yes, it’s good to have you back at home.” Savannah added, “Well, here we go, ready or not. Let’s do the news,” while Melvin said again, “Yes, so good to have you back.”
Reconnecting with the team and viewers
Later in the show, Savannah and Craig were joined by Al Roker and Carson Daly. When Craig mentioned the crowd outside, Savannah said, “Some beautiful signs out there. I’m excited to see them, give them all a hug. I’ve been really feeling the love so much.”
Savannah had spent several weeks in Arizona with her family after her mother disappeared. She briefly returned to the studio on March 5 to meet and thank her colleagues before officially resuming work.
Her emotional decision to come back
In a March 27 interview with Hoda Kotb, Savannah spoke honestly about returning to the show.
“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness and I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not,” she said. “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. And being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I’ll say so. I have been so grateful to have this family. I consider this my family, my greater family, and when times are hard, you want to be with your family. And I want to be with my family.”
She added, “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try. I would like to try. I’m not gonna be the same, but maybe it’s like that old poem, more beautiful in the broken places.”
Search for her mother continues
The search for Nancy Guthrie has now entered its tenth week, and no suspects have been identified so far. Savannah has shared that her family is offering a reward of up to $1 million for any information that could help find her mother. The FBI is also offering a separate reward of $100,000.