Yahoo Lifestyle Today’s Craig Melvin to Replace Hoda Kotb as Co-Anchor — Watch Announcement
NBC’s Today has found Hoda Kotb’s replacement in show staple Craig Melvin, who will serve as co-anchor of the morning news program beginning in January.
Melvin’s promotion was revealed on Thursday’s Today broadcast, following the news that Kotb’s final episode will be Friday, Jan. 10. You can watch the announcement in full above.
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“Though [Hoda is] irreplaceable in our hearts, we are so excited about the news in our Today family, and that is that the person sitting right next to me, our dear friend and talented, wonderful, hard-working, most-worthy-of-this Craig Melvin is the new anchor of the Today show,” Savannah Guthrie shared. “This is one of the most popular decisions NBC News has ever made.”
Melvin said he was “beyond excited and grateful” to take over co-anchor duties alongside Guthrie.
“I had a lot of conversations yesterday with a lot of people who mean a lot to me, and I want to obviously thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy,” he added. “I’ve enjoyed a lifetime of blessings, and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
“Craig, you are made for this job,” Kotb told him. “You are literally made for this job. You are that kind of good. You have all the things that this job needs. You’re the right person for it.”
Melvin is already a familiar face to Today viewers: In addition to contributing to the show’s first two hours, he co-hosts 3rd Hour Today with Sheinelle Jones, Dylan Dreyer and Al Roker. He has worked at NBC News in various capacities since 2011, when he joined MSNBC as a daytime anchor.
As for Today‘s fourth hour, which Kotb currently hosts with Jenna Bush Hager, it was announced on Thursday that the 10 am hour will be retitled Today With Jenna & Friends as of Monday, Jan. 13. Joking that she’s “single and ready to mingle” now that Kotb is departing, Bush Hager shared that she’ll now host the fourth hour alongside “guests and friends and family that are part of this DNA of this show, and they’re going to be coming along for the ride.”
Kotb previously announced in September that she would exit Today in the new year, citing a desire to spend more time with her family.
“I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie,” she told her Today colleagues at the time. “We only have a finite amount of time.”
How do you feel about Melvin taking over for Kotb at the Today anchor desk? Tell us below!
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