Savannah Guthrie made a delighted return to the Today show studio on Tuesday morning, almost two weeks after she starting working from her basement, having come down with a ‘mild sore throat’ amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 48-year-old made a surprise appearance in NBC’s Studio 1A, where she was reunited with her co-anchor Hoda Kotb, 55, having kept quiet about her plans to return on social media until just moments before the show began.
Savannah took to Instagram and Twitter to share an in-studio selfie with Hoda, which she captioned simply: ‘Reunited!’
She’s back! Savannah Guthrie was reunited with co-anchor Hoda Kotb on Tuesday morning when she returned to the Today studio after nearly two weeks of working from home
Celebration: The 48-year-old kept quiet about her return to the studio until moments before the show went on the air
Caution: Savannah and Hoda, 55, expressed their excitement at being reunited, after the former took the decision to work from home having developed a ‘mild sore throat’
Moments later, Savannah and Hoda appeared on-air together, with both kicking off the morning show by celebrating their reunion.
‘This is Studio 1A, I haven’t been here in a while!’ Savannah said, while looking around the familiar space.
‘I was going to say, so many things are not normal, and in this moment right now as I’m looking at you, something finally is,’ Hoda added. ‘It’s good to see your face.’
But while Savannah is happily back in the studio, the two anchors are still making sure to observe social distancing guidelines – sitting six feet apart from one another at their Today desk.
‘It feels good to be in the same room, [but] I wish we were closer like we used to snuggle up,’ Savannah told her co-anchor. ‘We are practicing our social distancing… it’s good to be back in the studio.’
The pair then shared that they will be co-anchoring a special prime-time show about the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday night, with Savannah saying: ‘We want to encourage folks to join us tonight, Hoda and I are hosting a special prime-time show about the pandemic.
‘This is the first in a series that NBC News will be doing in the weeks ahead. We’re going to examine the outbreak’s toll, the country’s potential new hotspots, and answer your questions.’
The duo’s happy reunion comes nearly two weeks after Savannah announced that she would be working from home out of ‘an abundance of caution’, having come down with a ‘mild sore throat’ and ‘the sniffles’ just as it was revealed that a staffer on the Third Hour of Today had been diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Feels like home: ‘This is Studio 1A, I haven’t been here in a while!’ Savannah said, while looking around the familiar space
Careful: The two anchors noted that, while they are reunited, they are still observing social distancing regulations by sitting far apart from one another at their desk
Savannah made Today history on Wednesday, March 18 when she co-anchored the morning show from her basement at home, after revealing on Tuesday night that she would be joining Hoda via video link, while sharing images of the mini studio that had been set up in her New York City basement.
‘Hi everybody! Well, this will be a first. I’m going to be anchoring Today from my house!’ she wrote on Instagram – while insisting that she is simply acting out of ‘an abundance of caution’ and ‘to model the super vigilance the CDC has asked of us’.
‘I’m staying home because I have a mild sore throat and runny nose,’ she continued.
Comfy! Savannah shared regular updates about her working from home wardrobe while she remained away from the studio
‘This was the advice of NBC’s superb medical team and my bosses. I feel good and am sure I will be back in no time – but during these days, it’s on all of us to be extra cautious and caring of those around us.
‘So see you tomorrow on Today – from my basement!’
It was revealed at the beginning of March that a staffer on the Third Hour of Today had tested positive for COVID-19, which NBC announcing on Monday that it had asked hosts Al Roker and Craig Melvin to remain home and ‘trace their contacts’ to ensure they had not come into contact with the person.
As of March 17, both were also tuning into the show from home, with Al and Savannah both joining Hoda via video link on Wednesday morning – a first for the popular morning show.
‘And we are back on a busy Wednesday morning, one not like a normal one here on Today,’ Savannah said while opening the show. ‘This show has been around a long time, 60-something years, but never has this happened before.
‘We’ve got Hoda in our studio, Al and I are working from home, Craig is actually [working] from home as well, we’re going to talk to him a little bit later this morning.’
Hoda then admitted that the set-up on viewers’ screens – which showed Savannah in one box, Hoda in another, and Al in a third – was ‘a little funky’, but said that she was ‘happy to be sitting in between you guys’.
WFH: On Wednesday, March 18, Savannah made history when she tuned in to anchor the Today show from home, after coming down with ‘the sniffles’ and a ‘sore throat’
Something different: She shared images of her at-home studio set-up on Tuesday evening, revealing to Today viewers that she would not be coming into the studio
Helping hand: Savannah revealed that her husband, Mike Feldman, had been roped in to serve as a producer and technician while she works from home
Solo: Her co-anchor Hoda remained in Studio 1A, despite a staffer on the Third Hour of Today testing positive for COVID-19
She did however confess that she was ‘feeling a little lonely’ in the studio and missing her ‘partner in crime’.
‘Things look a little different, I feel a little lonely here, I’m missing my partner in crime, she’s usually six feet away here!’ Hoda joked.
For his part, Al, 65, seemed more than happy with his at-home set-up, telling his two co-stars that he had ‘just got the coffee maker going’.
‘It is very weird I will admit, but… venturing out, making sure you keep that physical distance, [even though] it’s eerie, everybody is practicing what [the experts] are preaching.’
Savannah joined Al in urging viewers to follow CDC guidelines for social distancing, noting that she is not showing any of the most serious symptoms connected with the coronavirus, but that she feels it is more important than ever to take extra precautions when feeling unwell.
‘I have a sore throat and I have the sniffles,’ she explained. ‘I didn’t even think anything of it, because frankly that doesn’t seem to be on the official list of symptoms.
‘But what I’ve been told is number one, doctors are getting new information about this novel coronavirus, it’s new, that means we’re learning about it and the symptoms that present.
New normal: Al Roker has been working from home since Tuesday morning, after a staffer on the Third Hour of Today was revealed to have tested positive for the coronavirus
Tuning in: The Today anchor noted that it is the first time in Today show history that such a set-up has been put in place
Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Hoda confessed that she was ‘feeling a little lonely’ in the studio by herself and admitted she was ‘missing her partner in crime’
‘And the other thing is, if you’re sick at all, the CDC is saying this is the time to stay home, and so, I had to admit it, and you know me, I like to come rain or shine and spread my germs around, but we don’t do that anymore. We stay home, and we keep everybody safe.
‘And like I told you, I think of it as a way of loving your neighbor. Love your neighbor and keep them safe.’
One upside to Savannah’s new working arrangement is the opportunity to spend more time with her husband, Mike Feldman, who – she revealed on Instagram – has stepped in to serve as a producer and technician while she is working from home.
‘Big shoutout to my husband @feldmike who has turned into producer and technician!!’ she wrote on Instagram, while sharing an image of Mike sitting on a bed while working away on a laptop.
In the days that she was working from home, Savannah posted a slew of images of her two children – Vale, five, and Charley, three – while jokingly noting in one caption that she is struggling slightly with all the ‘family time’.
Last Monday morning, instead of her normal trip to the NBC studios in Manhattan, the TV host shared an image of her kids looking out at a snowy backyard, having spent much of the weekend sharing updates about how her kids are ‘destroying the house’.
Precaution: Savannah shared the news about her decision to work from home on social media on Tuesday evening
Taking care: She urged others to follow CDC guidelines and look after others
Struggling: Savannah appeared to have grown a bit exasperated with all of the ‘family time’ she’s getting after starting to work from home
Special moments: She shared this image of her children enjoying the snow on Monday morning, days after revealing she had come down with ‘a mild sore throat’
New normal: Savannah had been posting regular updates from her home, at one point joking that her children were ‘destroying the house’
‘Our neck of the woods,’ Savannah captioned Monday’s post, which showed her two children wearing what appear to be Christmas-themed pajamas while gazing out of the window at the snow.
Last week, the mother-of-two posted an image of her children’s playroom floor, where she was listening to Kenny Rogers, after he passed away on Friday, while joking that they were busy ‘destroying the house’.
‘Listening to Kenny Rogers on repeat as my kids destroy the house,’ she wrote.
The day before, she shared an image of her gray sweatpants, with the same colorful floor in the background, captioning it: ‘Is there a statute of limitations on how many days in a row you can wear the same sweat pants?’
But while working from home has given Savannah a chance to spend most of her day in sweatpants, it has meant that she is spending much more time with both kids, something that she seems to be finding fairly tiring.
Last Thursday she posted a hilarious selfie, pulling a less than thrilled face as her daughter Vale was playing in the background.
‘So. Much. Family Time.’ she captioned the post, which also featured a photo of Vale and Charley playing together, as well as a video of them outside wearing bike helmets.