Savannah Guthrie is returning to “Today.”
Viewers of NBC’s morning program learned Friday that Guthrie will be back to her hosting duties at the network’s Rockefeller Plaza studio in New York on April 6.
Guthrie, 54, has been absent from “Today” since Feb. 2, the day after learning her mother Nancy was abducted from her Tucson home. She appeared on the program this week in a taped interview with Hoda Kotb, her first since her mother went missing..
Guthrie’s re-entry on “Today” is certain to generate significant viewer interest. Her 84-year-old mother’s case, still being investigated by law enforcement, generated an outpouring of public affection for the co-host.
Many media industry insiders expressed serious doubts over whether Guthrie would return to television before law enforcement determined what happened to Nancy Guthrie. But people close to Guthrie believe her grit and deep religious faith will provide her with the strength to move forward.
Guthrie told Kotb in a segment of their “Today” interview that she feels compelled to return because she considers the people she works with as family. She promised to be honest about her feelings when she’s back on the “Today” set where the mood is often light and breezy.
“I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not,” Guthrie said. “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 being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I’ll say so.”
Guthrie, who became a “Today” co-host in 2012, acknowledged that returning to the program will be difficult and offered no guarantee of a smooth transition back.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore. But I would like to try.”
Guthrie’s daily presence on “Today” will also help keep her mother’s case in the public eye. NBC is also airing a special “Dateline” episode on the abduction on Friday.
Guthrie has spent most of the last seven weeks in Tucson with her family. She canceled plans to be a part of NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in Milan and before this week only appeared on TV and social media in taped messages asking for the help in finding her mother.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen Jan. 31, when she spent the evening with family members. Law enforcement officials believe she was removed from her Catalina Foothills home later that night against her will as her phone, wallet, car and medication were left behind.
Surveillance videos of a masked man who was outside Guthrie’s front door on the night she disappeared were released by the FBI. The search continues with no suspects or strong leads in the case.
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