Thursday, July 16, saw a particularly eventful episode of the “Today” show for Savannah Guthrie and co-anchor Craig Melvin. Besides Guthrie requesting more anchors to fill in on the show after her “Wordle” great news, Melvin suffered an alarming racial attack.
As noted by Page Six, Savannah shared some major news on the episode, announcing she is temporarily stepping away from the “Today” show for an exciting new project. She will be filming the “Wordle” game show and they plan to shoot the whole season over the next few weeks.
“Guys, I’m headed over to shoot ”Wordle” over the next few weeks. We’re going to shoot the whole season and we’re super excited.” I can’t wait for everyone to see it. It’ll probably air, I think, in the new year,” Guthrie said.
Co-Hosts Celebrate Savannah Guthrie’s Exciting ‘Wordle’ News
After Guthrie announced her exciting new project, her colleagues were thrilled for her, with Carson Daly saying he “can’t wait” for the premiere. Meanwhile, Sheinelle Jones said the news is a “full circle” moment, speaking of when the morning news team first became obsessed with the New York Times word game.
As for Melvin, he said of Guthrie’s temporary absence from the show, “We’re going to lose you for a minute, though.”
While Savannah gave no exact return date, a post on the “Today” show’s official Instagram account revealed that the popular co-host will be off-air for a few weeks. News of the “Wordle” show first started doing the rounds in October 2025.
The news came after a source told the Los Angeles Times that NBC was ordering a pilot for a Wordle-themed game show, featuring Guthrie as the host and popular late-night host Jimmy Fallon as the executive producer.
What Is ‘Wordle’ All About?
The word game was first created in 2021 by Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle. He wanted a fun game for his partner to play while locked down in the COVID-19 pandemic. When the word game became a viral phenomenon, the New York Times was quick to purchase it from Wardle, reportedly paying a “low-seven-figure” for the game.
Players in the game have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Following each guess, letters are color-coded. Gray indicates that the letter isn’t in the word, yellow means it is, but in the wrong spot. Meanwhile, green indicates a winner, as the letter is in the correct place.
Savannah Guthrie’s temporary absence from the show follows her April return to her “Today” desk, following the disappearance of her mother in February.
Craig Melvin Suffers Racial Attack
While Guthrie had good news, Craig Melvin had a scary moment on Thursday morning. A man managed to bypass security at the “Today” show set at 30 Rockefeller Center. He was arrested after he lunged at Melvin, shouting the N-word at the co-host.
This happened at around 9 am ET and wasn’t revealed on the “Today” broadcast. The attack was first reported by TMZ. The news outlet cited law enforcement sources, saying the intruder was trying to locate the longtime “Today” weatherman Al Roker.
When he failed to find him, the intruder confronted Melvin, lunging at him while shouting the N-word. He was arrested after the incident and fortunately, no one was physically injured.
