“I was like, ‘Are they forcing you out?’ She’s like, ‘No Craig, I’m OK. I’m leaving,’” he recalled. “I was legit stunned, so much so that after she left, I went back to her dressing room, and I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ It takes a certain kind of courage to leave anything when you’re at the height of your game.”

Craig Melvin was so shocked by the news of Hoda Kotb's Today show exit that he thought she was being 'forced out.'

Craig Melvin revealed he questioned Hoda Kotb about whether she chose to leave 'Today' when he learned of her exit from the NBC morning show

New Today cohost Craig Melvin initially thought Hoda Kotb might be sick when she pulled him aside to tell him she was stepping down from the NBC morning show. "My dressing room is two over from hers,

Craig Melvin got a temporary tattoo of his 'Today' coanchor Savannah Guthrie after losing a bet over the winner of the NFC Championship game

Savannah Guthrie says she threw away Hoda Kotb’s “s–t” after she departed the “Today” show last week. Guthrie recalled finding the various beauty products and items left behind by her former co-anchor while appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” with Craig Melvin Wednesday.

We go in and we sit on the set and there are these trays,” Guthrie joked, explaining that in the trays for their personal items, Kotb had left, “like, one contact and, like, expired

Craig Melvin is grateful for his new role on Today, but he admitted there’s one part of the job that seriously “stinks.” The TV personality opened up about his early wake-up time and getting used to his new schedule as Hoda Kotb’s replacement.

Today confirmed Kotb’s exit in September 2024 and Melvin was announced as her successor less than two months later. He made his debut as co-anchor on January 13 alongside Savannah Guthrie, who has been co-hosting the morning show since 2012.

Craig Melvin reveals that his wife Lindsay Czarniak and mom Betty Melvin were the only people he was allowed to tell that he'd succeed Hoda Kotb on 'Today.'

Today' co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin settled a bet after Savannah’s Eagles defeated Craig’s Commanders in the NFC Championship Game

Today anchor Craig Melvin is sporting a neck tattoo of his co-anchor Savannah Guthrie's face with the Eagles logo.