Savannah Guthrie announced she will be taking a short hiatus from the “Today” show in 2026 as she undergoes vocal cord surgery.
During Friday’s broadcast, Guthrie announced that she will be undergoing a procedure to remove nodules and a polyp from her vocal cords in the new year and will have to go on extended vocal rest to recover.“
Some of you have noticed that my voice has been very scratchy and started to crack a little bit,” the 53-year-old NBC news anchor shared on Friday’s episode.
“Well, I have found out what it is. I have vocal nodules and I also have a polyp. It’s not a big, big deal, but I am going to have to have a surgery in the new year and be off for a couple of weeks, so this is my last day for a little while,” she said on the Dec. 19 broadcast.
Guthrie joked that some viewers might think she had “the world’s longest head cold,” but instead she’s “really excited” to have finally diagnosed the problem and found a fix.
“This has been going on for years, honestly, so to have a solution,” she said.
Guthrie added that one downside to the procedure is that she has to be “totally silent” for a couple of weeks, which she teased meant that “Christmas coming early for my family.”
Guthrie shared the news alongside her colleagues, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Al Roker.
Jones, who will be joining the “Today” show’s fourth hour in 2026 alongside Jenna Bush Hager, told Guthrie that she also underwent the same surgery. She also claimed that there are perks to a silent recovery.
“The silver lining is you have permission to be still,” she explained. “The house gets quiet, the kids are gonna want to help you out.”
Jones then gifted Guthrie the whiteboard she used to communicate during her recovery. “A lot of the greats have done it, maybe you’ll come out singing like, I don’t know, Céline Dion,” she joked.
“Well, you know, it’s really funny, I used to sing,” Guthrie responded. “Then I couldn’t sing anymore and then I couldn’t speak anymore,” joking, “So who knows, guys, the tour is happening in 2026.”
Guthrie joined the “Today” show in June 2011 as co-host of the third hour, then became the main co-anchor in July 2012. This is her 13th year with the NBC program.
