The Today show’s West Coast anchor Natalie Morales thinks NBC newcomer Megyn Kelly did a “great job” with her debut for the network.
The Access Hollywood host, 45, chatted about her new coworker with Us Weekly and other reporters at the 2017 Gracie Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, June 6. “She did a great job with the [Vladimir] Putin interview,” Morales said of the sit-down, which aired on the premiere of Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly. “I don’t think anybody could’ve done better. He’s a tough one, and she certainly held his feet to the fire but he gave it right back. It was a great interview.”
Although the interview was criticized on social media for being uneventful, Morales thought the show’s premiere was exciting. “I think the show is off to a good, strong start, and we’ll see where it goes,” she said. “I mean, it’s tough because were competing in the same time slot as 60 Minutes. That does not make it easy.”
Kelly made her Today show debut on June 1 from St. Petersburg, Russia, where she was attending the International Economic Forum. Her Sunday night news magazine program, which featured her exclusive Putin interview, premiered on June 4.
Morales, meanwhile, left New York City and relocated to Los Angeles last summer for a new role on the NBC morning show. “[I] love L.A.,” she said. “I haven’t given New York a second thought. I really haven’t. I mean, we were back there for Access Hollywood, just a week of doing shows, and it’s fun to go out to dinner, but I’m like, ‘OK, I’m ready to get home.’ Home is L.A.”
The TV personality added that she and her sons, Joseph, 13, and Luke, 8, whom she shares with husband Luke Rhodes, have been enjoying the outdoors. “We do a lot of hikes,” she said. “You know, going out with the kids and hiking pretty much every weekend that we can and just getting out and exploring. It’s all new to us, so every weekend it’s like, ‘Let’s try a new restaurant, let’s try a new neighborhood to see L.A.’”