Savannah Guthrie opens up about returning to work after mom Nancy's disappearance: ‘Not easy'
Savannah Guthrie opened up in a tearful conversation with Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY about how she has balanced her return to work with the daily anguish over the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie.
Savannah and Jenna shared an emotional moment in the fourth hour of TODAY June 8 about what life has been like for Savannah since she returned to TODAY on April 6. Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home in Arizona on Jan. 31 in what authorities believe was an abduction. She remains missing.
“It’s really hard to come back,” Savannah, who was guest co-hosting the fourth hour, tearfully told Jenna. “I’ve been trying so hard to hold it together, and I promise I will.”
She expressed her gratitude for all the support of her colleagues on TODAY and everyone behind the scenes.
“I’m happy to be back,” she said. “It’s like the two hours of my day — it’s not that I’m not thinking about it, because I am — but it’s something to do. It brings me a lot of joy to be with everybody. But no, it’s not easy.”
Jenna expressed her hope that being on TODAY has helped provide Savannah with a “spark.”
“It is. It’s a little respite,” Savannah said. “And you are my family. I don’t think if I had any other kind of job I would’ve even tried to come back. I just felt like, what else should I do? And my mom would’ve said the same like, ‘Honey, just keep going, just keep going.’ And so, I am.”
Savannah said she didn’t know if she was emotionally ready to fill in as the co-host for TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle, two months after her return to work.
Savannah said that “to do the job, I got to keep it together, pull it together,” which would be hard to do when talking with Jenna on the fourth hour.
“It’s hard when you’re with your best friend to not be real. You’ve asked me before if I’m ready. But I couldn’t look at you, in this kind of setting, where we talk about life and not tell the truth about my life,” she said.
“I know maybe people wonder like, ‘What’s going on? How is she able to do that job? Is she not thinking about it, did she forget?’” Savannah continued. “No, never. Never.”
Jenna said her TODAY family will always be there for Savannah as she endures such a difficult time.
“We still need everybody’s prayers. We still wish somebody would call and say what they know,” Savannah said.
Savannah added that a line from the Bible that she found in a book of old sermons has given her solace.
“There’s a part of it which says, ‘You’ll walk and not grow faint,’” she said. “And this sermon that I read talked about that. How there’s a time in life when just walking and not growing faint is about as good as it can get.
“And that’s what I feel like I’m doing,” she continued. “I’m trying to walk and not grow faint, and it’s a gift from God that I’m able to do so. But it’s always with me. I cry every morning on the way to work, and I cry every morning on the way home.”
She is thankful for TODAY being such a “beautiful and joyous and supportive place” and wants to show her two children that it’s possible to balance the pain of her mother’s disappearance with the happiness she feels while being on the show.
“We can hold our sadness, and we can hold our joy, and if you don’t believe it, just watch me,” she added. “I’m going to show you.”
Jenna, at the top of the hour, mentioned that it was National Best Friend Day, a fitting occasion for her “bestie” to co-host.
“I just marvel, as somebody who knows you, at your strength. You coming back here and leading the ship, which I know has not been easy — and yet here you are. Morning after morning, getting out of bed. Spending the mornings with us. I know so many of you at home feel the same way,” Jenna said through tears.
The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for Nancy Guthrie’s return. The FBI is also offering a $100,000 reward and encouraging anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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