Savannah Guthrie is laying bare the raw emotional reality of returning to work while her mother remains missing. In a candid conversation with her best friend and Today co-host Jenna Bush Hager, the NBC anchor opened up about the daily struggle to keep it together on camera.
"I can't really even look at you every day without crying," Guthrie told Hager during a guest co-host appearance on Monday. "It's really hard to come back. I've been trying so hard to hold it together, and I promise I will."
Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy, was abducted from her home on January 31. The family offered a $1 million reward for her safe return, joining the FBI's $100,000 reward. Surveillance footage released by authorities showed a masked figure approaching Nancy's front door in the dead of night.
The anchor stepped away from Today in February to be with her family in Arizona and returned to the anchor desk alongside Craig Melvin in April. But the grief doesn't take a commercial break.
"I cry every morning on the way to work, and I cry every morning on the way home," Guthrie revealed. "It's always with me."
What's keeping her grounded is her support system. Guthrie praised the "beautiful and joyous and supportive place" she returns to each day, crediting friends like Bush Hager for seeing her—truly seeing her—no matter what.
"We can hold our sadness and we can hold our joy," she said. "And if you don't believe it, just watch me."
For now, Guthrie is showing up and doing the job while her mother remains missing. Police have detained several persons of interest but have not charged anyone in connection with Nancy's disappearance.
