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Matt Lauer, Katie Couric and More Hosts Who Left the ‘Today’ Show: Where Are They Now?

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May 15, 2024 10:00 am·

By Mike Hammer

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Since 2018, NBC’s Today show has been coanchored by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb alongside cohosts Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Carson Daly. But many famous faces have graced the Today set through the years.

From Matt Lauer, who was fired in 2017 amid sexual misconduct allegations, to Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel, who both worked at the show for 15 years, Closer takes a look at the former Today hosts and what they’re up to now.

1 of 5

Matt Lauer

On November 29, 2017, it was announced live on Today that Matt had been terminated after a then unidentified female NBC employee claimed he sexually harassed her during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “We just learned this moments ago, just this morning,” Savannah Guthrie said live on the morning news program the day Matt was fired. “As I’m sure you can imagine we are devastated.” Since his firing, Matt has maintained a low profile and has been living on his farm in New Zealand.

2 of 5

Katie Couric

After 15 years with Today, Katie announced that she would depart the show on May 31, 2006. “I wanted to tell all of you out there who have watched the show for the past 15 years that, after listening to my heart and my gut — two things that have served me pretty well in the past — I’ve decided I’ll be leaving Today at the end of May. It was really a difficult decision for a lot of different reasons,” she said at the time. When she left the show, Katie moved to CBS Evening News before eventually returning to ABC. She later hosted the daytime talk show Katie for two seasons. She also penned the 2011 book The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives, which became a New York Times bestseller.

3 of 5

Meredith Vieira

Following Katie’s departure from Today, Meredith went on to become coanchor alongside Matt Lauer in 2006. She announced in May 2011 that she would depart as cohost, but would remain with Today in the role of special correspondent. Looking back, Meredith recalled, “It wasn’t the right job for me at that time,” adding: “I’m just not a morning person, so I was going to bed at 11 o’clock at night, getting up at 2 … I had this life that was wonderful between 7 and 9 in the morning, and then the rest of my life was sort of getting stories coming to me … I felt so torn about it and really tired.” Since then, Meredith went on to host her own daytime talk show, The Meredith Vieira Show, for two seasons. She returned to daytime TV in the fall of 2019 as host of the game show 25 Words or Less.

4 of 5

Ann Curry

In June 2012, it was widely reported that Ann was being replaced on Today after a year as coanchor, so later that month she made the emotional announcement on air. “This is not easy to say, but today is going to be my last morning as a regular cohost of Today. I will still be a part of the Today show family, but I’m going to have a new title and a new role, and this is not as I ever expected to ever leave this couch after 15 years, but I am so grateful, especially to all of you who watch,” she said at the time. “And for all of you who saw me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line, but man, I did try.” After her time as coanchor, she reported for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Dateline NBC, Rock Center with Brian Williams, Today and MSNBC. In January 2018, Ann returned to television with the documentary series We’ll Meet Again with Ann Curry, which she hosted and produced.

5 of 5

Bryant Gumbel

Bryant stepped down from the Today show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years; he is the third longest serving cohost of Today, after Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. Since his departure, Bryant made occasional appearances on Today but moved to CBS to host Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel for one season. He became cohost of The Early Show in November 1999 but left the show and the network in 2002. In April 2024, Katie claimed he wasn’t supportive when she took time off to become a mom. “He got mad at me because I was doing something on maternity leave,” she said on the “Club Random” podcast with Bill Maher. “And he was giving me endless s–t for taking like a month or two off. I was having my first baby.”

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