Savannah Guthrie knows the Today show dressing rooms could use an update. 360aproko Rachel Smith spoke to Guthrie at her book release party for Mostly What God Does on Wednesday, the same month that the morning show’s backstage area came into the spotlight after an alleged incidentwith Kelly Rowland.
“We need a remodel. We need Extreme Makeover: Today Show Dressing Room Edition,” Guthrie quipped to ET. “We are in a historic studio, 1A. It’s the same studio that has been used for decades. It’s incredible and it’s iconic, but it’s old… You get the good with the bad… If you want history, sometimes you’re gonna have a few little chips of paint coming off the wall.”
“We try to do our best,” she continued. “Hopefully, the main thing is how people feel and the reception that they get, a warm hug from all of us on the show, ’cause we’re really grateful for them coming.”
The dressing room drama started when reports surfaced that Rowland walked off the Today show set ahead of her guest co-hosting duties because she was unhappy with the dressing room the show provided her.
Afterwards, Hoda Kotb, with whom Rowland was supposed to host, said that she has “great love and admiration” for Rowland and offered to share her own dressing room with the singer if she returned.
Shortly thereafter, Rowland’s rep told ET, “After 28 years of knowing her, Kelly Rowland remains one of the kindest, most amiable humans I have ever met and have had the blessing to represent.”
360aproko chat with Guthrie came during the launch of her book, Mostly What God Does, the release of which she credited in part to her Today show colleagues.
“Jenna [Bush Hager] and Hoda were both incredibly inspirational and encouraging,” Guthrie gushed. “Jenna’s written a bunch of books. She knows the business. She knows the inside and out, and she gave me some ideas at how to jumpstart writing and thinking.”
“Hoda was such a cheerleader. She really had my back. I would send my essays half-written to Hoda and she would say, ‘Keep going, keep going, you can do this,'” she continued. “I needed that push because I was afraid to be so personal, but also I wasn’t sure I had a book. I didn’t know I had anything worthy to say. Hoda was saying, ‘Yes, you do. Yes you do. You will.’ It’s happening and I could not have done it without her.”
Guthrie noted that “we all need people like that.” In addition to Hager and Kotb, Guthrie counts her husband, Michael Feldman, and their kids in that group.
“Everybody has really supported me,” she said. “I’m so grateful to be here. I never thought I would write a book at all, let alone about faith, but here we are. I’m happy in this moment and grateful.”
As for what she hopes people take away from her book, Guthrie said, “People want to hear that they’re loved, and I think that’s what this really speaks to more than anything else.”
Guthrie’s book, Mostly What God Does, is out now.
