Here comes Craig Melvin!
The journalist revealed on Thursday that he will be taking over for Hoda Kotb when she exits the “Today” show on Jan. 10.
“CM is the new anchor of the ‘Today’ show!” Savannah Guthrie gushed.
The update came nearly two months after Kotb, 60, announced her shock departure to viewers after 26 years with NBC.
“I decided this is the right time for me to kind of move on,” she said in September. “And so with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.
“I’m not gonna be here past the first of the year,” the former “Dateline” correspondent continued before clarifying, “I’m gonna stay in the NBC family, but it’s kind of a big deal for me.”
Want more celebrity and pop culture news?
Start your day with Page Six Daily.
Thanks for signing up!
As rumors swirled about her possible replacement, Kotb joked as recently as Monday that they didn’t have a clue who would step in.
Kotb joined NBC News in 1998, becoming the co-host of the “Today” show’s fourth hour nearly one decade later with Kathie Lee Gifford.
Kotb has co-hosted alongside Jenna Bush Hager since Gifford’s exit in 2019.
Additionally, Kotb has been Guthrie’s “Today” show co-anchor since 2018.
That same year, Melvin stepped in as co-host of the show’s third hours and news anchor earlier in the morning.
He has been with the network since 2011.
“We are beyond thrilled to have Craig step into the co-anchor chair,” senior vice president Libby Leist wrote in a statement Thursday. “He’s been an integral and beloved part of our family.”
She continued, “From breaking news coverage in the field, to presidential interviews, to multiple Olympics and Super Bowls, Craig’s shown he has the talent and the range to cover all that we do here at ‘Today.’ And he does it without ever losing that Southern charm.”
After the announcement, all of the anchors did shots in the studio to celebrate bourbon-loving Melvin.
English (US) ·