Savannah Guthrie Says ‘Not Easy’ to Work After Mom’s Disappearance

Savannah Guthrie discussed the heartbreaking disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie in a candid conversation with her best friend and colleague Jenna Bush Hager, the co-host of Today With Jenna and Sheinelle.

Guthrie, who visited the show as a guest co-host in the fourth hour on Monday, told Hager, “I can’t really even look at you every day without crying. You are my best friend. You know, it’s really hard to come back. I’ve been trying so hard to hold it together, and I promise I will.”

“When I see you in the morning, I know you see me, no matter what is going on, and sometimes that’s almost too much because I feel like to do the job I gotta keep it together, pull it together,” Guthrie said, before adding, “But I’m happy to be back. It’s like the two hours of my day — it’s not that I’m not thinking about it, because I am, but it’s something to do and it brings me a lot of joy to be with everybody. But, no, it’s not easy.”

Guthrie‘s 84-year-old mother was abducted on Jan. 31. Guthrie stepped away from the Today Show in February to be in Arizona with her family. They offered a $1 million reward for her mother Nancy’s return in addition to the FBI’s $100,000 reward. Nancy is believed to have been taken from her home against her will, as the FBI released photos of a masked assailant approaching her front door in the middle of the night. Police have detained several persons of interest but have not charged anyone.

On Monday, Guthrie, who returned to the Today Show alongside her co-anchor Craig Melvin in April, said that while some people may question how she is able to come back to work amid her mother’s disappearance, she carries the grief with her throughout her day. “It’s always with me,” Guthrie said of her mother’s abduction. “I cry every morning on the way to work, and I cry every morning on the way home. And I’m grateful to have good friends and to be able to come to such a beautiful and joyous and supportive place. Like so many people out there, you can hold all of these things together. I try to tell my kids that too. We can hold our sadness and we can hold our joy. And if you don’t believe it, just watch me.”

When Hager praised Guthrie’s strength and faith, Guthrie said, “I’m working it out, step by step; it isn’t easy.”