Savannah Guthrie ‘May Never’ Return to Today as Sources Claim She’s ‘Questioning’ if the ‘Spotlight Is Worth Her Family’s Safety’
Jason Pham
Today viewers may never see Savannah Guthrie on their screens again amid her mom Nancy Guthrie’s abduction.
A source told Radar Online in a report published on February 25 that Savannah’s future on the morning news show is in “question” as she reevaluates whether her fame played a part in her mother’s kidnapping. “Savannah is devastated – and fearing the worst. She’s trying to be strong, but this has shattered her,” the insider said. “She’s questioning everything – her career, her public life and whether staying in the spotlight is worth the risk to her family’s safety.” The source added, “Her only focus is protecting her family. Returning to Today is absolutely the last thing on her mind.”
Nancy, who shared Savannah and her siblings Annie and Camron with her late husband Charles, went missing on February 1 after she was taken in the middle of the night from her home near Tucson, Arizona. “No matter how this ends, Savannah has been completely shaken,” the insider said. “Having her mother wrenched away from her like this has thrown her for a loop in a way friends have never seen before.”
Savannah joined Today in 2011 as a substitute for Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry. She became a co-host of the 9 a.m. hour that same year before NBC announced that she would be joining Matt Laeur as a co-anchor in 2012. The report about Savannah’s future on Today comes after the journalist shared an emotional Instagram video confessing that she believes her mother may no longer be alive after weeks without her life-sustaining medication.
“It is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed, and every hour and minute and second and every long night has been agony since then — of worrying about her and fearing for her and aching for her and most of all, just missing her,” Savannah said. “We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. Hope against hope. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope.”
She continued, “We also know that she may be lost; she may already be gone. She may already have gone home to the Lord that she loves, and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and her beloved brother, Pierce, and with our daddy,” Savannah said. “And if this is what is to be, then we will all accept it. But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home.”
Savannah went on to thank the public for the “millions” of prayers they’ve made since her mother’s abduction. “So many people have been praying, of every faith and no faith at all; praying for her return. And we feel those prayers. Please keep praying without ceasing,” she said. “We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. Hope against hope, as my sister says. We are blowing on the embers of hope.”
Savannah also announced that she and her family are offering a reward of up to $1 million for any information about Nancy’s disappearance. She also also announced that the family is donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). “We also know that we are not alone in our loss. We know there are millions of families that have suffered with this kind of uncertainty,” Savannah said. “We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all the families like ours who are in need and need prayers and need support.”
She concluded her video, “Help us bring our beloved mom home so that we can either celebrate a glorious, miraculous homecoming or celebrate the beautiful, brave, courageous and noble life that she has lived. Please be the light in the dark. Thank you.”
