Savannah Guthrie is back on Today after a four-day absence from the show.
“So glad that Savannah’s back in Studio 1A,” Today cohost Craig Melvin said, kicking off the Tuesday, July 14 broadcast. “Had some much-deserved time off.”
Guthrie, 54, was all smiles for her return, sporting a red and pink floral dress. The journalist told viewers that she was watching “all those World Cup matches,” to the shock of Melvin, 47.
“I watched quite a few of them,” she replied. “And you should know, the France and Spain semifinal is today.”
Further details about Guthrie’s absence were not disclosed, other than it appeared to be some planned time off. She did not share any glimpses on social media either, with Guthrie’s most recent posts being from the Today 4th of July broadcast.
People reported last week that Savannah’s absence from the show was unrelated to the ongoing search for her mom.
Today viewers have been aware of Guthrie’s absences from the show since the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in February. After Nancy, 84, went missing from her Arizona home earlier this year, Savannah stepped away from the Today news desk for a two-month hiatus.
When Savannah returned to Today in April, she told viewers that it was “good to be home.” During a sitdown interview with longtime friend and colleague Hoda Kotb, Savannah also disclosed what working at Today has meant to her over the years.
“It’s the answer to all of my dreams, actually better than my dreams,” she said at the time. “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.”
Savannah continued, “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.”
The search for Nancy is still ongoing in Arizona. Savannah most recently addressed her mom’s disappearance during a June Today broadcast after an apparent ransom letter sent to news outlets alluded to Nancy’s death.
“I don’t have any comment on this story. I’m not involved in our coverage, but I can’t pretend I’m not here,” she said at the time. “Since I am, I just wanted to take the opportunity to ask people — really, to beg people — to come forward.”
Savannah continued, “Somebody knows something. This is a news story today that is on your radar, because this is the life my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives and our extended families live, that our children live every day. We are in agony. We cannot be in peace.”
