Savannah Guthrie’s Today show family is “happy” she’s returned to work after a two-month hiatus amid her mother Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance — but only time will tell how Savannah will reacclimate to the job.
“Everyone is supportive of Savannah’s return and very happy to have her back,” an insider exclusively tells Us Weekly after Savannah, 54, made her official Today comeback on Monday, April 6. “But at the same time, they are approaching it realistically.”
The source notes that everyone on the NBC broadcast team is “sensitive to her situation and knows that she will have to take it day by day.”
“There have been a lot of conversations about that, knowing that things will not go back to normal immediately,” the insider explains. “No one knows what the future holds and what it will look like, but they are working with her to see how it goes. Some days will be harder than others.”
While Savannah has said herself that she will never be the same following her mother’s disappearance after an apparent kidnapping in late January at the age of 84, her coworkers know she’s a fighter.
“What was very clear this morning is Savannah’s strength,” a second source tells Us, referring to her choice to get back behind the news desk at Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center. “Her grief will never go away, but she can hold both. She is the show’s North Star.”
Savannah’s hiatus from the Today show began after news broke on February 1 that her mom, Nancy, had been reported missing in Arizona. Nancy was last seen one night prior after having dinner with her other daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law Tomasso Cioni. (In addition to her two daughters, Nancy also shares son Camron Guthrie with her late husband Charles Guthrie.)
Savannah quickly hopped on a plane from New York to Arizona at the time to be with her siblings as the search for Nancy jumped into overdrive.
In the two months that have followed, Savannah has issued multiple public statements alongside her brother and sister and pleaded for the public’s help in finding Nancy. The family has offered a $1 million reward for any information leading to her recovery.
During the investigation, the FBI released photos and video footage from Nancy’s door camera of a masked man they thought could be the assailant. However, since the footage was released on February 10, no suspects have officially been identified.
Savannah, for her part, told former Today cohost Hoda Kotb, who filled in for her during her absence, that she’s had to come to terms with the unanswered questions — at least for now — as she returns to her life in New York with her husband and children.
“When I look at the Today show, it’s the answer to all of my dreams, actually better than my dreams,” Savannah explained to Kotb, 61, during an emotional sit-down that aired on NBC last month. “It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness. I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not. 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.”
When Savannah returned to her place as coanchor of the daily news broadcast, she did so with the support of her longtime friends and coworkers.
“Good morning, welcome to Today on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with us, and it is good to be home,” Savannah told viewers on Monday.
Craig Melvin, who was seated beside her, replied, “[It’s] so good to have you back.”
When Jenna Bush Hager kicked off her morning hour of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, she gave Savannah some love as well.
“We’ve had a really lovely morning here,” Bush Hager, 44, said on Monday, calling Savannah “the bravest” person for all she’s endured. “Savannah is back, and we have just embraced her with open arms. She said, ‘It is good to be home,’ and we feel that sentiment a million times over.”
