Today viewers were in for some musical chairs on Friday, October 18. Sunday Today anchor Willie Geist and Saturday Today co-anchor Laura Jarrett unexpectedly subbed in for Hoda Kotb, and Savannah Guthrie.
“Savannah, Hoda, and Craig got a jumpstart on their weekends,” Geist stated at the top of Today’s second hour. Jarrett took over Craig Melvin’s duties and also co-hosted the third hour of Today with Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer.
Jarrett and Geist took on the usual Friday fare, including a segment about Queen Elizabeth II’s vehicle collection on display at Rockefeller Center, a puff piece about fall foliage, and a Coast Guard rescue of a stranded kayaker. The duo seemed at ease with each other and brought viewers into the weekend seamlessly.
Fans took to X, formerly Twitter, where some were caught off guard by the absence of soon-to-exit Kotb and Guthrie, while others liked the changeup.
“Where is SG and Hoda ????” posted one fan.
“Willie and Laura are the Dream Team I wish we had every day. So much better than Savannah and Hoda,” another user wrote under a clip of the new duo. “Real news people. Smart and so much easier to watch.”
“Happy to see Laura and Willy this morning !!” posted a third.
Jarrett’s appearance comes amid speculation that she will replace Kotb on the series following her exit early next year. In a memo to staffers last month, Kotb announced she would leave Today in 2025.
“She has a really strong chance,” an NBC insider exclusively told Us Weekly. “She’s the anchor of Weekend Today; she is a lawyer like Savannah. She’s a darling at the Today show who has risen up very quickly.” Jarrett has indeed had a rapid ascent within 30 Rock, working for NBC News since just 2023, she has co-hosted Saturday Today since last September.
“The other option is they could move around anchors,” the outlet’s source added. “They could put Craig with Savannah, or they could put Sheinelle with Savannah,” the insider shared, noting that if Jarrett got the job, the next “big question” would be who would replace her on Saturday Today.
Meanwhile, Geist, the son of the legendary newsman Bill Geist, is no stranger to hard-hitting news, having cut his teeth at CNN Sports Illustrated before going over to MSNBC where he co-hosted Morning Joe among other shows.
In her memo, Kotb cited her reason for leaving as being to focus on her family. “I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while – Am I truly ready? But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are!” read the memo. “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”
Related‘Today’ Fans React To Tearful Hoda Kotb & Jason Segel Moment
Kotb is mother to two daughters, Haley Joy, seven, and Hope Catherine, four, both of whom she adopted.
The beloved anchor, who replaced Matt Lauer in 2018 alongside Guthrie (making for the first all-female anchor desk in morning show history) was also facing significant pay cuts when she decided to exit gracefully, according to Variety.
What do you think, would Laura Jarrett and Willie Geist make a good co-anchor team? Let us know in the comments below.
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