Savannah Guthrie made a sudden exit during Wednesday’s “Today” show.
After 90 minutes into the broadcast, Savannah’s co-host, Craig Melvin, announced that she was done for the day.
“Savannah had to leave a little early,” he told viewers, adding, “She’ll be right back tomorrow, though.”
No other explanation was given, and Savannah has yet to address the moment on her social media accounts. However, a source told Page Six Savannah left “for some sort of appointment, and her exit had nothing to do with her mum.”
Page Six reached out to reps for Today, but didn’t receive an immediate response.
Savannah’s abrupt exit comes as her mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, remains missing. Nancy has been missing since Jan. 31, when police believe she was kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona.
The journalist has made emotional pleas on social media alongside her siblings, Annie and Camron, for any information in order to bring her mother home.
After taking two months off from the NBC morning show in light of her family emergency, Savannah, 54, returned to Today on April 6.
“It is good to be home,” she said at the beginning of the show. “Ready or not, let’s do the news.”
Sources told Page Six that ahead of the broadcast, NBC staffers were explicitly instructed not to address Nancy’s disappearance, or even formally welcome the anchor back.
“It was supposed to be business as usual. [Producers] said to act totally normal,” one source said. “‘Move forward’ is the vibe. It’s been a hard year and a draining time.”
In an interview with fellow Today anchor Hoda Kotb that aired in March, Savannah shared how she came to the hard decision to return to the show while her mother was still missing.
“It’s hard to imagine [coming back] because it’s such a place of joy and lightness. I can’t come back and try to be something I’m not, but I can’t not come back because it’s my family,” she said. “I think part of my purpose now.”
“I want to smile and when I do, it will be real,” she continued. “And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer, and being there is joyful and when it’s not, I’ll say so.”
Former FBI agent Jason Pack exclusively told Page Six last month the “walls are closing in” on Nancy’s kidnapper after Savannah returned to Today, explaining that her being back on TV will help bring renewed attention to the case.
“Every day that passes the pressure builds. Keeping a secret like this is exhausting … and that gets harder with every morning that Savannah Guthrie sits behind that anchor desk,” Pack said.
“Most criminals in cases like this count on the media moving on,” he continued.
“They count on the family fading from public view. They count on people forgetting. This case is different. Savannah has a national platform and she shows up on it every single day. Every time a viewer sees her face, they think about her mother.”
This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.news.com.au ’
