Craig Melvin Says It ‘Stinks’ to Wake Up at 3:45 a.m. for ‘Today’ After Replacing Hoda Kotb

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.

“[My alarm] used to go off at 4:15 a.m. if there was something big happening that morning, 4:30 a.m. if it was a slow morning,” Craig, 45, told TODAY.com in an interview published on Wednesday, January 15.

Things have changed for the broadcaster since he became Savannah Guthrie’s official coanchor.

“I have to get up at 3:45 a.m.” he said of his schedule now. “Which, when you say it out loud, it’s like, ‘Ooh, that stinks. That stinks.’”

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Because of his new gig, Craig decided to try and go to bed earlier each day during the week. He praised his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, for making sure their two kids, Delano and Sybil, stick to their bedtime routine every night.

“My wife is going [to] get a medal at some point for putting the kids down most nights, except weekends. I’ll pick up the slack on weekends. But that’s the thing about the shift, you really have to commit to a regimen to make it work,” he told the outlet.

Craig explained that he has had a “triple alarm system” to help him wake up on time in the morning.

“I’ve got my radio alarm clock that’s on my nightstand,” the dad of two said. “Then I set two alarms on my phone, as well, just in case I oversleep one. It’s hard to oversleep all three.”

The NBC favorite also revealed he has a pretty simple morning routine that helps him quickly get out the door in the morning.

“I take my multivitamin, I’ve got this electrolyte mix that I use. I take my allergy meds and I shave every morning. That’s it. That’s the end of the routine,” he shared.

Craig officially took over for Hoda, 60, on January 13 as the early morning coanchor next to Savannah, 53. He recalled the moment Hoda shockingly told him she was leaving the show before announcing it publicly.

“She came in, and she said, ‘I just wanted to tell you something. I’m leaving.’ And my initial reaction was, ‘Are you sick? Is everything OK?’ I was like, ‘Well, no one leaves these jobs on their own.’ She said, ‘It’s time. I want to leave on top,’ he told Parade on January 17. “I was like, ‘Are they forcing you out?’ She’s like, ‘No, Craig, I’m OK I’m leaving.’ 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.”

Hoda left the talk show on her own accord to focus on her family, with her final episode taking place on January 10. The bestselling author is a mom to two daughters, Haley and Hope, whom she lives with in a new suburban home outside of New York City.