Viewers who tuned in to watch Today on Monday, August 28, were shocked to find that some of their favorite hosts were replaced. NBC called in several of the network’s other popular anchors to sit at the news desk during the broadcast — a massive shakeup that nobody saw coming.
Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones and Carson Daly were all missing from the episode. Craig Melvin took charge to propel the broadcast forward, sitting alongside Kristen Welker at the top of the hour to discuss the day’s biggest headlines.
Kristen, 47, recently announced she was leaving Weekend Today to focus on her new role as the moderator of Meet the Press. Seeing her step in to cohost the weekday program certainly came as a huge surprise to some.
Just two days prior, the Saturday Today team gave Kristen an emotional sendoff as she prepared for the next chapter of her career. The longtime journalist burst into tears after watching a compilation of her best moments on the show. Her husband, John Hughes, and her daughter, Margot Lane Welker Hughes, stopped by the set for a sweet farewell segment on August 27.
In addition to Kristen’s appearance on Today, Jacob Soboroff and Jill Martin also served as fill-in anchors in the absence of the show’s main hosts. Al Roker was on hand to lead his usual weather segments and stepped in later in the broadcast to interview some of the guests. Last week, the meteorologist celebrated his 69th birthday with a day off from the show.
Jill, 47, revealed in her Instagram Stories on Monday that Sheinelle, 45, and Dylan, 42, were taking “some well-deserved time off.” On her Instagram page, Sheinelle shared that she was busy spending time with her family and celebrating eldest son Kayin’s 14th birthday.
It is unclear why Hoda, 59, and Savannah, 51, were missing from the program on Monday. In recent weeks, both Hoda and Savannah were absent from the morning talk show for several days in a row.
Earlier this month, Hoda took a week off to celebrate her 59th birthday with her friends and family. Justin Sylvester served as the guest cohost on Today With Hoda & Jenna alongside Jenna Bush Hager.
“I am so happy to be 59 this year. I feel so good about it,” Hoda reflected. “If you’re worried about aging, and I know aging’s a thing, 59 is amazing. It’s an amazing year.”
Craig, 44, and Jacob, 40, have been doubling up on their hosting duties throughout the month of August, helping out whenever their team members are absent. While all of the recent hosting changes have been a bit confusing, it’s obvious that the Today team is great at rolling with the punches.
