Inside NBC's Emotional Plan for Savannah Guthrie's Return to 'Today' After Mom Nancy's Abduction — 'They Want It to Feel Hopeful'
NBC brass want to give a 'hopeful' welcome back to Savannah Guthrie on 'Today.'
March 17 2026, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
As Savannah Guthrie gears up for an emotional return to Today with no breakthrough in the desperate search for her abducted mother, NBC is orchestrating a carefully curated "hopeful" on-air display, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The longtime co-host has been gone from the airwaves for almost three months. She took a medical leave starting in mid-December 2025 to prepare for vocal cord surgery. Then, Savannah's 84-year-old mom, Nancy, was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home on February 1, just as she was preparing to make her triumphant return.
NBC Execs Want Savannah Guthrie's 'Today' Show Return to Feel 'Hopeful'
With Nancy Guthrie still missing, NBC brass want to welcomed back Savannah in a 'hopeful' way.
Executives are considering releasing yellow balloons on the 30 Rockefeller Center plaza as a show of "support" for Savannah and Nancy.
"They want the moment to feel hopeful," a network insider explained. "Something simple that viewers on the plaza and at home will instantly understand."
Yellow has been the color of hope amid Nancy's disappearance, with Today's talent wearing yellow ribbon pins and yellow balloons filling Studio 1A.
Savannah left yellow flowers at a growing tribute that popped up along Nancy's driveway just before heading back to NYC. She spent more than a month in Tucson working with authorities and praying for any new development that could lead them to her still-missing mother.
NBC's Plans for Hoda Kotb When Savannah Guthrie Returns to 'Today'
Hoda Kotb has been filling in for Savannah Guthrie on 'Today' since February 9.
One big decision facing NBC brass is what to do with Savannah's former co-host, Hoda Kotb, who has been filling in alongside Craig Melvin despite retiring from the show in January 2025.
Executives decided they don't want Kotb as a third wheel at the anchor desk alongside Savannah and Melvin, preferring to keep the "spotlight" on their returning host.
Kotb hopped into the Arizona native's chair with ease after Savannah's first week away, saying that she was still part of the Today "family," and that's where one goes during troubled times.
"First of all, I just want to say this whole thing’s breaking my heart, and I’m happy to be sitting here with you," Kotb noted on February 9 on her first day back cohosting. "I've been, like, wandering around going, 'Where do you go?'"
Hoda Kotb Was 'Absolutely Ready' to Return to 'Today'
Kotb interviewed Savannah Guthrie's NYC pastor, which received some criticism for being too invasive of the host's private life.
Kotb went on to raise eyebrows by conducting a very personal interview with the pastor at Savannah's church, Good Shepherd New York, which some critics saw as an invasion of her former coworker's private life.
It has been reported the mom of two adopted daughters has had regrets about retiring to spend more time with her young kids, missing the high-profile life of network morning TV.
"Hoda is absolutely ready to step back in full-time if asked. She never really left the building mentally," one network source claimed about how Kotb would love her old job back.
'Please Don't Stop Praying With Us'
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Savannah Guthrie heartbreakingly acknowledged her mom may already be dead.
Savannah has been silent on social media for more than two weeks after returning to New York City.
Her last post was on March 2, showing the touching floral display in front of Nancy's home and writing, "We feel the love and prayers from our neighbors, from the Tucson community, and from around the country."
Savannah added, "Please don’t stop praying and hoping with us. Bring her home."
The network star had been posting tearful video pleas to fans to pray for her missing mom in the weeks after her kidnapping, although she acknowledged in a February 24 message that her mom "may already be gone," begging the captor to "bring her home."
