When it comes to anchoring a morning news show, one thing is certain — your wake-up call is well before the sun rises.
And as a result, Savannah Guthrie has a stern warning for her new Today coanchor Craig Melvin.
Prior to joining Today six years ago, he was an evening news anchor for WIS in Columbia, South Carolina, and a weekend anchor for WRC in Washington, D.C. in 2008, where he met his wife, sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak.
The husband and wife share a mutually exclusive love of sports.
As a result, Melvin admitted to staying up last night to watch the College National Championship instead of going to bed in preparation for his 3:45 a.m. call time.
Guthrie was quick to scold Melvin for his choices.
“I was up late last night,” Melvin told Guthrie on Tuesday, January 21, revealing he “had to see if the Ohio State Buckeyes could vanquish their opponents” the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which they did 34-23.
“Again? You know this is a marathon, not a sprint. If you stay up every night watching football and getting up early, this cannot last,” Guthrie warned Melvin.
Melvin agreed with his coanchor, admitting he’s “gonna have to recondition myself.”
Melvin has been anchoring the first hour of the Today show since January 13. However, he’s been a staple during the third hour of the show for the last several years.
In an interview with Parade, Melvin recalled how he learned about Hoda Kotb’s decision to step away from the anchor desk in order to spend more time with her daughters and her mom.
“My dressing room is two over from hers, and she knocks on my door one morning, which was unusual. And she’s like, ‘You have a moment?’ She came in, and she said, ‘I just wanted to tell you something. I’m leaving.’”
Admitting that “no one leaves these jobs on their own,” he said he first questioned if Kotb was “sick.” When she assured him she was fine and simply wanted to leave her post while she was “on top,” Melvin pressed harder.
“I was like, ‘Are they forcing you out?’ She’s like, ‘No Craig, I’m OK. I’m leaving.’ I was legit stunned, so much so that after she left, I went back to her dressing room, and I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ It takes a certain kind of courage to leave anything when you’re at the height of your game.”
