Were you surprised when NBC announced that Craig Melvin would succeed Hoda Kotb as a co-anchor on the Today show? It turns out we weren't the only ones shocked by the news — Craig was, too. In November 2024,

“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.”

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,