Savannah Guthrie Announces She's Stepping Away From 'Today' for 'Next Few Weeks' — Just Hours After Craig Melvin's Security Scare
Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin each made news of their own on Thursday.
July 16 2026, Published 4:08 p.m. ET
Savannah Guthrie has announced she is stepping away from the Today show for the time being, RadarOnline.com can report.
Her announcement comes on the same day co-host Craig Melvin was the near-victim of a terrifying attack at the show's NBC headquarters in New York.
Savannah's Big Move
The partners typically share a desk on the 'Today' show.
With the search for her missing mother, Nancy, nearing six months, Savannah announced Thursday morning, July 16, that she was temporarily leaving the show to film a new project.
"We're about to do it. Guys, I’m headed over to shoot Wordle over the next few weeks," Guthrie confirmed about hosting the new game show, based on the popular web game of the same name.
"We're going to shoot the whole season, and we’re super excited," she added, before sharing, "I can't wait for everyone to see it. It’ll probably air, I think, in the new year."
Guthrie a 'Natural' Game Show Host
Guthrie announced she is leaving 'Today' to host a televised version of 'Wordle'.
Wordle producer Jimmy Fallon originally announced the new show in May, appearing on Today to explain how he had been developing the puzzle as a game show "for the past two and a half years" along with the New York Times.
"I know, we've been holding this secret between us for like, a long time now," Savannah noted at the time about how long the project had been in development.
Fallon brought along clips from the pilot showing Savannah on a glossy set with the famed yellow, green, and gray squares around her alongside an excited contestant.
"We were like, who's the perfect host for this? We need to have someone who looks like they play Wordle. Someone who knows how to run a show and host it," the NBC late-night star said about how Savannah got selected.
"We did the pilot, and you were amazing," Fallon gushed.
Police Issue Statement to Radar
Melvin was attacked Thursday morning.
Savannah's announcement came just before a frightening incident for co-anchor Craig Melvin. As Radar reported, the 47-year-old was attacked by an unknown man Thursday morning as he entered NBC's New York City headquarters.
In an official statement to Radar, NYPD officials confirmed, "On Thursday, July 16, 2026, at approximately 0919 hours, it was reported to officers that there was a disorderly person inside 30 Rockefeller Center, within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct."
According to reports, the man was able to rush past security and approach Melvin in a restricted area backstage, apparently near the dressing rooms area, where he allegedly "lunged at him while yelling a racial slur."
"Officers responded and placed an unidentified individual into custody," the statement continued, adding that "there were no injuries reported."
Security Concerns at NBC
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Questions remain over the security lapses at NBC.
Witnesses said Melvin was immediately surrounded by several people in the aftermath, which did not happen on air. It was later reported he may not have been the intended target, as the intruder was apparently initially looking for weatherman Al Roker.
The scary scene remains under investigation, but critics online have plenty of questions as to how this could have happened in the first place.
"This is absolutely shocking and completely unacceptable behavior," one person tweeted, as another wondered, "Security around live TV shows seems tighter for fans than for actual intruders. How does someone get that close?"
A third person lamented: "Live TV security has one job, and this sounds like a pretty loud failure."
