Media
“Here we are, ready or not,” Guthrie said as the show opened. “Let’s do the news.”
FILE – Savannah Guthrie visits the Today Show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Savannah Guthrie and nearly all of her work at the anchor desk of NBC’s “Today” show were back on Monday, marking a return for the first time in more than two months since her mother disappeared. “Here we are, ready or not,” Guthrie said as the show opened. “Let’s do the news.”
After looking at a series of news headlines, Guthrie said: “We’re so glad you started our week with us and it’s good to have you back home.” Her co-host, Craig Melvin, said: “It’s good to be home.”
She greeted her longtime co-worker Al Roker with a “Good morning, Sunshine” when he pointed out that it was good to see her on set. At the end of the first 25-minute segment of the show, Melvin gave a high five.
She was overcome with emotion before the final half-hour, when she joined her colleagues in front of fans gathered in the show’s studio at Rockefeller Center. She fought back tears when a fan was seen wearing a “Welcome Home Savannah” T-shirt, grabbed bandmate Jenna Bush Hager’s arm and thanked people for their support.
Guthrie says it’s hard to move forward without knowing what happened
Guthrie, one of the most recognizable faces on morning television, has been the “Today” show host since 2012. She acknowledged that she is a changed person and that it is difficult to move forward without knowing what happened to Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken against her will from her home in Arizona.
Despite an extensive search involving thousands of federal and local officers and volunteers, there has been no trace of the 84-year-old mother of three since she was reported missing on February 1.
The Today program has followed the story closely over the past two months, but it was not addressed during the first hour of its return on Monday. The return to normal was clearly intentional: Her return was not mentioned during interviews with NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez at the White House and military analyst Steve Warren on the show’s set.
Hoda Kotb, the former anchor who replaced Guthrie for much of the past two months and interviewed her former colleague, was not on set Monday.
The “Today” show has seen its ratings soar over the past two months, even surpassing ABC’s “Good Morning America” as the morning show ratings leader. These shows are no longer as profitable as they once were for the networks, but competition is still intense.
The “Today” program averaged 3.1 million viewers during the first three months of the year, an increase of nearly 9% in an era when most radio programs are losing viewers. It’s hard to know how Guthrie’s story has anything to do with that: NBC also aired the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in February, and both events tend to help morning shows’ ratings.
“Good Morning America” averaged 2.93 million viewers, up 2% from 2025, while “CBS Mornings” viewers fell 17% to 1.76 million, according to Nielsen.
As part of a video message posted by her New York church on Easter, Guthrie spoke of feeling “moments of deep disappointment in God, of feeling completely abandoned.” But she said the Resurrection is not fully celebrated “if we do not acknowledge the feelings of loss, pain and yes, death.”
In announcing her return to NBC’s flagship morning show, Guthrie said she wasn’t sure if she would feel like she still belonged on the show.
“It’s hard to imagine doing this because it’s a place of joy and lightness,” she said a little over a week ago on the “Today” show during her first interview since the disappearance. “I can’t go back and try to be something I’m not. But I can’t not go back because it’s my family.”
She wasn’t expecting to make her way through the show, which is usually light-hearted with a mix of serious and breaking news.
Guthrie’s mother made occasional visits to attend the show
There has been a great deal of speculation about whether she will return.
“I want to smile, and when I do it will be real,” she told Hoda Kotb, who returned to the “Today” show to fill in while Guthrie focused on the research. “It’s fun to be there, and when it’s not, I’ll say that.”
Nancy Guthrie has made occasional appearances on the “Today” show over the years, once participating in a cooking show and surprising her daughter on set. When Savannah Guthrie returned to her hometown of Tucson in 2025 for a taped segment for the show, the two visited one of their favorite restaurants and talked about their love of Arizona.
The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to their mother’s recovery.
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was kidnapped, abducted or taken against her will after blood was found near the doorstep of her home in the foothills outside Tucson. The FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the balcony that night. Volunteers and search teams surveyed the nearby desert terrain filled with cactus trees, shrubs and rocks in the first weeks after her disappearance.
But interest has dwindled in the investigation, which was declared a top priority by the FBI and local authorities. Investigators have not released new evidence for weeks and say the number of tips has slowed. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department said late last week they had no updates.
Earlier, some media outlets reported receiving ransom letters related to the case. Guthrie said she and her siblings responded to two they thought were real and offered to pay.
Guthrie said her fame may have been the reason behind her mother’s kidnapping, but she said that possibility was “too much to bear.”
Associated Press reporters John Sewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Sarah Brumfield in Washington contributed to this report.