Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin had a secret code phrase for referring to him replacing her ahead of the official announcement on Today.
Melvin, 45, told The New York Times in an interview published on Thursday, November 14, that he learned he was replacing Kotb, 60, in the NBC show’s first hour several weeks ago. However, NBC News executives decided to publicly share the news on Thursday.
Kotb told the outlet that she and Melvin used the code phrase “Let’s Go Mets” since many of their colleagues were not yet aware of the decision. Kotb explained that they came up with the idea during “the height of Mets mania” and would use it on many occasions.
“It was fun to see his face,” she recalled of when she would say the phrase to Melvin. “He looked like a kid on Christmas, getting what he wanted.”
Melvin was announced on Thursday as Kotb’s replacement for the first hour of Today. Coanchor Savannah Guthrie said that the show’s staff learned of the decision that morning and “broke into applause.”
Melvin gushed that he is “beyond excited and grateful” to receive the opportunity, adding, “I want to, obviously, thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy. … I’ve enjoyed just a lifetime of blessings, and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
Kotb, for her part, told him that he was “made for this job.” She added, “You are that kind of good. You have all the things that this job needs. You’re the right person for it.”
Melvin gushed that Kotb and his fellow cohosts were his “sisters,” adding, “[Hoda], you’ve been the heart of this place for a long time. You helped save this show. … I’ll try not to screw it up!”
Melvin, who shares son Delano, 10, and Sybil, 8, with wife Lindsay Czarniak, joined Today in 2018 as a news anchor on the show’s first and second hours. He also cohosts the third hour alongside Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer — which he will continue to do.
His new role was announced months after Kotb shared that she was leaving the show after being with NBC for over three decades. (Kotb, who joined Today in 2007, has been an anchor alongside Guthrie since 2018.)
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new. This is the right time for me to move on,” Kotb explained at the time, adding that her daughters — Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 — were the motivation for her decision.
