Katie To The Rescue! Couric Has ‘Soft Spot’ For Disgraced Matt Lauer

Matt Lauer and Katie Couric are quietly bonding, as he finds his way back up from the gutter, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.

“They’re a lot closer than people think,” an insider told RadarOnline.com. “Matt’s been putting in strategy calls to Katie and she’s giving him tons of advice in both his personal life and career.”

As RadarOnline.com readers know, Lauer’s career is in freefall, after the 60-year-old former Today show host was fired by NBC following a slew of sexual assault allegations.

But Couric, who sat next to Lauer on the morning show couch for 15 years, has been sympathetic to his troubles, and recently reiterated that she had a “wonderful working relationship” with the disgraced anchor.

“She’s still got a soft spot for the guy and wants to see him make a comeback. She’s telling friends she believes he’s truly sorry,” the insider added.

Lauer apologized after the allegations became public, writing in a note that he regretted “that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly.”

“She’d like people to think she was ‘joking’ when she said he would pinch her ass all the time, but he did and it used to annoy her.”

Lauer has been relatively silent since being laid off, hiding in his Hamptons home. But sources tell RadarOnline.com he is busy planning his comeback – as a documentary movie producer!

“People say he’s delusional,” another source told RadarOnline.com. “But Matt’s convinced it could win him back a lot of the credibility and trust he’s lost from this scandal.”