The Stunning Transformation Of Savannah Guthrie

Millions of viewers tune in every morning to be greeted by the sunny smile of Savannah Guthrie, the long-time co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show. But it was a long road from her years as a local news anchor just starting out to the moment a confident Guthrie took on President Donald Trump during a controversial town hall event in 2020.

Guthrie's journey to becoming one of the most recognized names in news was rather unconventional, but the unusual path she took to the top may have just made her a better reporter. So is the fact that her life has not exactly been an easy one. Guthrie has suffered more than one heartache over the years, but her personal life is now thriving alongside her professional career. From her childhood in Australia to her becoming a household name, here is a closer look at how Savannah Guthrie has transformed over the years.

Born on December 27, 1971, in Melbourne, Australia, young Savannah Guthrie was just 2 years old when her family moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she grew up. Having her entire life uprooted might have been difficult for Guthrie, but she wasn't old enough to remember moving across the globe.

That doesn't mean being born in another country didn't have an impact on Guthrie's life, though. "Growing up and knowing that I was born in Australia was always this interesting exotic part of my history that I love," she revealed to People.

Her childhood in Tucson may not have been as "exotic" as the land Down Under, but Guthrie did have a happy youth. She even got a head start mixing with famous people — or at least one person who would grow up to be famous. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, one of her high school classmates was Olympian and professional football player Michael Bates.

Savannah Guthrie's parents, Nancy and Charles Guthrie, raised their three children grounded in their Baptist faith with a focus on their individual personalities and, as Savannah Guthrie explained in an interview with Refinery29, with an "emphasis on who you are and who you are when no one is looking." This fundamental belief has pervaded Guthrie's life and has even played a role in how she raises her own children. Her parents always stressed that who you are is much more important than how good you are at sports or your physical appearance. And even though Guthrie played tennis and took piano lessons, she's not shy about the fact that she didn't excel at either.

Guthrie was particularly close to her father, describing him in a piece for Today.com as "always strong, sometimes terrifying, loyal to the end, and disarmingly gentle and tender when it counted." It's her dad's integrity, though, that had the biggest impact on Guthrie. While she said that his "moral clarity" could be "intimidating," Guthrie's dad "tempered it ... with kindness and mercy."

When she was just 16 years old, Savannah Guthrie's father died of a heart attack. Up until that time, her mother Nancy Guthrie had been a stay-at-home mom. Suddenly thrust into the harsh reality of supporting and raising three kids on her own, Guthrie's mother was able to get a job working in public relations for the University of Arizona where the "Today" host and her sister, Annie Guthrie, were luckily able to attend tuition-free.

Dubbed by Refinery29 as, "an unlikely role model for the laidback dreamers," Guthrie admitted to the outlet that she wasn't much of an overachiever in life until she had to be. "I wasn't much of a go-getter in my younger years," she said. "In high school, I was kind of a slacker. It was only in college when I started taking journalism classes that the fire was lit, and I really wanted to accomplish things. Before that, I was happy to hang out with my friends and listen to grunge music and wear my chunky heels."

Reflecting on that difficult time of her life in an open-letter essay to her mother that she wrote for Good Housekeeping in 2017, Guthrie shared, "I think about when Dad passed away so suddenly ... I remember how we clung to each other for dear life in the years that followed. Your strength and selflessness in the face of that shock amazes me to this day."

Savannah Guthrie graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Arizona in 1993 and promptly moved to Butte, Montana, where she got her big-break as an anchor on a local TV station. Unfortunately, the station closed down just 10 days later and Guthrie found herself forced back home to Tucson, unemployed. Pulling herself up by her bootstraps, she quickly found a job as a reporter and anchor in Columbia, Missouri, where she worked for the next two years with a focus on legal journalism that would earn her the "Excellence in Legal Journalism Award" from the Missouri Bar.

In 1995, Guthrie was offered a job at an NBC affiliate in her hometown of Tucson, where she thrived for five years until getting an offer with a big market Washington D.C. affiliate in 2000 that would have her covering the 9/11 attacks and other major news stories at the time.

But a burgeoning career in broadcast news wasn't enough at the time. Inspired by her background in legal journalism and the O.J. Simpson and Lyle and Erik Menendez trials that were so prevalent at the time, Guthrie quit journalism and pursued a career in law. In 2002, after receiving the highest score on the Arizona bar, Savannah Guthrie joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, and specialized in white-collar criminal defense for a year.

In a commencement speech Savannah Guthrie made to the 2019 class at George Washington University, she revealed that just a few months before starting a prestigious job as a law clerk for a federal judge, she quit her legal career to return to journalism. She told the graduating class, "It wasn't my dream. What I really wanted was to go back to my roots in journalism. I still had that nagging hope that one day I could really make it in television news" (via Today.com).

After working as a CourtTV correspondent from 2004 to 2006, she found herself in the role of NBC News legal correspondent, and after a much sought after interview with Sarah Palin, she was offered the role of NBC's White House correspondent in December of 2008. Her enigmatic personality and comfort in front of the camera caught the eye of higher-ups at NBC that were contending with the controversy of Ann Curry's sudden departure as co-host of the morning program. After many guest appearances on "Today," Guthrie was officially offered the role of co-host in 2012, and has been with the show ever since.

Joining the "Today" show was a big moment in Savannah Guthrie's career, but it was also bittersweet as it was a turbulent time for the show itself. Guthrie was brought on as a replacement for Ann Curry, who was unceremoniously and unexpectedly booted from the position in 2012. "I still don't really understand," Curry told Elle in 2020 about being replaced, noting, "I know I did nothing wrong."

The co-hosting gig went to Guthrie, but NBC seemed to want to draw as little attention as possible to the switch and her debut was met with very little fanfare. The entire situation was tense, and Guthrie wasn't even sure if she wanted to accept the position when it was offered to her. While, as she told The New York Times, "anyone would dream to get to host the 'Today' show," she didn't relish the idea of landing the prestigious job in the midst of so much upheaval. "I wondered, 'If I do this, and if it's such a controversy, it would be so easy to fail and never work in this business again,'" she said.

Savannah Guthrie's first marriage was to Mark Orchard, a former BBC producer, whom she wed in 2005. However, the union ended after four years in 2009. Following her separation, the journalist turned toward her professional goals putting her personal life on hold. That same year, though, she met media consultant Michael Feldman, and after dating for five years, the two married in 2014 with the exciting news that a baby was on the way — something Guthrie had thought was off the table as a 42-year-old woman. 

Just five months after marrying, they welcomed a daughter, and two years later they were blessed with a baby boy. The 48-year-old recalled to People, "When we found out we were pregnant, I don't think there were two happier people on this planet." Guthrie further described the perks of becoming a mom later in life, stating, "Now, I can really take my time and enjoy our kids." Thankfully, Guthrie followed her dream of becoming a successful TV journalist, and today she has both the family and the career she always dreamed of.

Although Savannah Guthrie got the family of her dreams in her 40s, getting there was a bit of a challenge. Following the birth of her first daughter, Vale Guthrie Feldman, in 2014, the journalist hoped to welcome another baby to the family. However, Savannah Guthrie and her husband, Michael Feldman, found that getting pregnant a second time was not easy. 

Guthrie opened up about this struggle with Good Housekeeping (via People), saying, "I stopped even letting myself hope or believe I could [get pregnant], because the years were getting on. It wasn't that I thought it was impossible; I just thought it wasn't likely," she confessed. These concerns were only exacerbated by a tragic miscarriage that made Guthrie doubt she would ever have another baby again.

Luckily, however, after several intense conversations with her husband, Guthrie began to research everything to know about IVF. The couple ultimately decided that the procedure was right for them, and they celebrated the arrival of a second child — a boy named Charles "Charley" Max Guthrie Feldman — in 2016. Reflecting on her second pregnancy in an interview with Health (via People), Guthrie revealed, "But with Charley, I did do IVF. So I would say Vale was a miracle, and Charley was a medical miracle." In her view, Charley represented her last chance to experience pregnancy. "I always say, Charley was, like, the last egg out. He really was. And we're so blessed," Guthrie added.

Savannah Guthrie and her husband, Michael Feldman, were thrilled to welcome two children into their household. However, when it came time to raise their brood, the couple found that they did not agree on everything. 

Initially, the main source of friction was religion — thanks to the differences between Guthrie's Christian faith and Feldman's Jewish beliefs. This meant the couple had to learn how to navigate the ins and outs of raising Vale and Charley Guthrie Feldman in an interfaith household. Chatting about this challenge to Drew & Jonathan, Guthrie admitted, "We know that difficult questions may be coming, but we're committed to raising them with full knowledge of their backgrounds. We hope as they get older, the kids will be inquisitive people of faith."

Meanwhile, this has meant embracing both Christian and Jewish traditions in the Guthrie Feldman household. Or, as Guthrie put it in the Drew & Jonathan interview, "We celebrate all the holidays!" So far, this has helped Vale and Charley develop an understanding of each faith. "We always go to Christmas Eve service, and the kids take part in the Christmas play at church." As for her kids' relationship with Judaism, Feldman has done a solid job of teaching them about the religion. "We light the Hanukkah candles and Mike is teaching our kids the prayers," Guthrie revealed. 

Savannah Guthrie's career can be grueling, but she isn't complaining — even when she has to wake up at the crack of dawn to co-host the "Today" show. Getting up at 3 a.m. may be rough, but Guthrie likes that it allows her to spend more time with her kids since she's usually done with her work day by lunchtime. "I come home and I see so much of my kids, and that means everything to me," she told Refinery29.

Guthrie has mastered the art of balancing her work life and her home life — if such a thing can truly be done. Even though, as she told Refinery29, "having kids changes everything," Guthrie still feels like everything in her life has aligned. "I often reflect on how lucky I am and how, in a cosmic sense, the timing was so perfect," she said, adding that "as a working mom," working for "Today" "is a dream come true."

Savannah Guthrie put her creative writing talents to good use in 2017 when she co-wrote a children's book called "Princesses Wear Pants." Guthrie wrote the picture book with Allison Oppenheim after they discovered that both of their daughters were obsessed with all things related to princesses.

The book isn't your average fairy tale, and it sends a powerful message of empowerment. Guthrie got the idea for the book after seeing Kate Middleton donning pants. "I said, 'Princesses wear pants,'" Guthrie told Today.com. "That's when I said, 'That's a book.'" Guthrie and Oppenheim created a character named Penelope Pineapple who is the epitome of a storybook princess. She loves to get all glammed up, "but she also wears pants while getting things done." Through the book, Guthrie wants to show her daughter — and all kids — that, princess or not, the most important thing is to "be a person of substance."

After she joined the "Today" show, Savannah Guthrie struck up a friendship with her co-host Matt Lauer, and there seemed to be genuine affection on both sides. "From the day I met Savannah, I knew there was something special about her," Lauer wrote in a piece for Variety in 2016. 

Therefore, Guthrie was stunned the following year when NBC News fired Lauer following allegations of "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace." Moments after learning of the accusations and his termination, Guthrie broke the news live on the "Today" show where she said she was "heartbroken for Matt." Guthrie also professed heartbreak "for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story." She asked, "How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?"

The aftermath left Guthrie reeling. "She's not herself," a source told Entertainment Tonight after Lauer was fired. "She's visibly shaken." More allegations were brought against Lauer in 2019 and again Guthrie stood with his accusers in the true spirit of the #MeToo movement. "This is shocking and appalling," she said on "Today" at the time, adding that she and her co-host Hoda Kotb "support ... any women who have come forward."

Savannah Guthrie very nearly lost the sight in her right eye in 2019 after her son accidentally injured her. She explained on "Today" that "Charley threw a toy train right at my eye and it tore my retina."

Things were touch and go for a while, and Guthrie even temporarily lost her eyesight. The TV personality had to undergo five laser procedures following the injury, which caused her retina to detach. Fortunately, the laser surgeries were enough to repair the damage, although Guthrie came close to needing a more invasive retinal surgery. Her ophthalmologist, Dr. Annie Negrin, spoke on "Today" saying her patient was "really lucky" the laser surgeries were successful.

While it was a serious and painful injury, Guthrie understood that Charley was just being a playful kid and was determined to keep him from feeling any guilt over the incident or even knowing how seriously he'd hurt his mom. "I was FaceTiming with my mom to tell her, and he came running in and said, 'I did it! I did it!'" she told "Today" after the injury occurred.

In March 2020, Savannah Guthrie had symptoms that could have been COVID-19, but, instead of calling in sick, she decided to stay at home and broadcast from her basement. "I wasn't feeling my best, a little sore throat, some sniffles, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but we are in different times, aren't we?" she said on "Today" at the time.

Guthrie's symptoms were mild, and she was back in the studio two weeks later. But things weren't the same, as she and her co-host, Hoda Kotb, had to remain six feet apart. "We're practicing our social distancing," Guthrie said of their new setup on the "Today" show set.

Guthrie and her husband, Michael Feldman, also had to adjust to quarantine life, which included Zoom classes for their kids. As she said in a Drew & Jonathan interview, though, she and Feldman work well as a team and managed to hold down the fort. One of their biggest challenges was explaining the pandemic to their kids. "I want Vale and Charley to be aware of what's going on in the world, but they don't need to be that aware," she said.

Even with money and notoriety, Savannah Guthrie has struggled with confidence. "It's a lifelong struggle for me," the journalist confessed to Health in 2020. "I've never once felt good about how I looked on the outside."

Although Guthrie was featured in People for their "Beautiful Issue" in 2019, validation from others doesn't necessarily equate to self-acceptance. This is what Guthrie has spent so long striving for. Learning to love how she looks is a journey, but Guthrie is determined not to pass her own feelings of inadequacy on to the next generation, saying that it's "just not healthy" and "holds us back from joy." Guthrie wants her own daughter to grow up confident and loving her own reflection. "We should be happy and proud of our bodies," she said.

Savannah Guthrie found herself even more famous during the 2020 election when she and Donald Trump went head to head during a town hall hosted by NBC in which she moderated in October. While many praised Guthrie for, as The Guardian put it, "keeping Trump in check," questioning him on controversial topics including the way he handled the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, others accused her of being a "Joe Biden surrogate."

Guthrie has long had a reputation of not shying away during interviews, with Drew & Jonathan noting that her "favorite interview tactic is to ask the one question [her] subject would rather not be asked." In spite of this, Guthrie is still surprised by how hard she came down on Trump for seemingly endorsing conspiracy theories. "You're the president," she said at the town hall on NBC News. "You're not like someone's crazy uncle who can retweet whatever." After the event, Guthrie admitted to being "shocked at myself" to The New York Times. "I don't even know if it's a good thing that I said it," she said. "That just came out."

Savannah Guthrie has long identified as a devout Christian and has credited the religion for guiding her through life. As the television personality told Today.com, Christianity helps her deal with the bigger emotions that affect her from one day to the next. "It's what makes me tick. It's what makes me joyful. It's what helps me navigate the world and stresses and disappointments and fears," Guthrie shared. Because of this, when Guthrie was approached with the possibility of writing a book about her religious experience, she jumped at the chance. "I wasn't sure there would be a book at the end of it, but I knew that it would be a really important path and journey to take," she added.

Guthrie started writing, and before long, she had penned the manuscript for a collection of essays titled, "Mostly what God does is love you." "That sentence always hit me, and I loved it," Guthrie told Today.com. "Because I think so many of us, particularly if you do come from any kind of faith background, you may be asking yourself, 'What does God think of me?'" Calling her book "a gentle call to be loved," Guthrie encouraged people of different backgrounds to give it a read. After the book was published in 2024, it topped The New York Times best seller list under the category of "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous." 

The "Today" show cast members have experienced tragedy, and Savannah Guthrie knows it. The longtime host of the popular morning show experienced a terrible tragedy of her own in February 2026 when her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was kidnapped from her home in Arizona. The incident left Savannah in a constant state of worry and tears. Speaking to the public via a video shared on Instagram, Guthrie said, "We believe our mom is still out there. ... She was taken, and we don't know where, and we need your help." The TV personality then encouraged her fans to collaborate with the police. "If you see anything, if you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement," she added.

Following her mother's disappearance, Savannah took a step back from her job at "Today." Unable to focus on work, the journalist dedicated herself to her family full-time. At the time of this decision, some insiders claimed that Savannah Guthrie may never return to "Today" at all. As one source told Status News, "There's no way Savannah's coming back. I can't imagine she would even want to." The same source, however, noted that Savannah's absence could be disastrous for "Today," noting "Savannah was always the glue on that show, and without that, this whole paradigm of our morning anchor team as a family, that connective tissue has just been ripped out." 

On the flip side, Jenna Bush Hager told "Today" viewers on March 5, 2026, that Guthrie said "she has the intention to return to the show even though it feels like the hardest thing to do." This information came after Guthrie visited Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center in New York City that morning to meet with her colleagues across the studio and offices.

When Savannah Guthrie's mother was kidnapped, there was one person who she was able to count on — her husband, Michael Feldman. In the wake of the tragedy, Feldman did his best to provide support to his wife and children. The dedicated husband and father has traveled all over the United States — from Florida to Arizona to New York — in order to be where his family needed him at any given moment. Shortly after Nancy Guthrie's shocking disappearance, Feldman made a behind-the-scenes visit to the set of "Today" to privately thank Savannah's colleagues for their well-wishes. As a source close to Savannah told Page Six, "It was a large group and he went around and thanked everyone, and got a bunch of hugs."

Feldman made this emotional visit in order to show gratitude to all of Savannah's friends and co-workers. In the same report in Page Six, the aforementioned insider noted that the employees of "Today" have been asking the Guthrie Feldman family: "Can we send clothes, arrange for food? Can we take the kids? [Can we] create a distraction at a moment that helps them manage through this as a family?" Given the amount of care displayed by Savannah's circle, it was important for someone from the family to reach out. However, given that Savannah had so much to deal with, Feldman decided to be the one to stand up.