"Craig, I mean… I'm so happy for you," Kotb said, wiping away tears. "You've earned this. You own this. And come Monday at 7 a.m., I'm going to be dead asleep! But you're gonna be fantastic."
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"We've become legit friends. We've got kids that have hung out together, and we've hung out together, so we don't have to fake it," Melvin, 45, exclusively tells Parade of their rapport as the pair sit in high directors' chairs side-by-side in an office at 30 Rock, where Today is filmed in the heart of New York City.
Guthrie, 53, adds, "We're so sad to see [Hoda] go…But we're also overjoyed because Craig is stepping in to fill her shoes, and I can't think of anyone more perfect for that role."
Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie Talk On-Air Chemistry (8:02)
Those emotions include the heartbreak and pride they both felt when Kotb told them she was leaving.
"She is as popular as ever. She's as good as it gets," Guthrie continues. "And she's saying, No, I think I'll go into the great unknown. And I find that so amazing.
"What I said to her right then and there, though, is that I'm going to set aside a moment for how I feel because to lose you is crushing."
"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 okay?' I was like, 'Well, no one leaves these jobs on their own.’ She said, 'It's time. I want to leave on top.' I was like, 'Are they forcing you out?' She's like, 'No, Craig, I'm O.K. 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 O.K.?' It takes a certain kind of courage to leave anything when you're at the height of your game."
Savannah Guthrie and Craig MelvinNBC/Scott Gries
For most of Melvin's life, Today has been a part of it. Raised in Columbia, S.C., the convivial journalist "fell in love" with the show during middle school mornings when his mom was already off to work and his father was just coming home. "I was there by myself for a while watching every morning," he recalls. "It was Bryant [Gumbel] and Katie [Couric]."
"I never dreamed that any of this would happen," says Melvin, "which I think makes it even sweeter."
"Outside of getting married and having my kids," he continues, "I don't know if I've ever been more excited about something."
Melvin also conveys an invaluable, genuine warmth to viewers, she adds. "He's just one of those people who has this infectious, magnetic personality, and that's not something that's turned on for TV," says Guthrie, describing him as 'The Mayor of 30 Rock.' "That's who he is. He loves people, so people love him."
Savannah Guthrie and Craig MelvinNBC/Scott Gries
Melvin and Guthrie first became acquainted around 2010 while both were living and working in Washington, D.C. Melvin was a weekend anchor for the local NBC TV news affiliate—"I immediately was like: That guy is good. He's different. He's an original," Guthrie recalls. Meanwhile, Guthrie, an NBC News White House correspondent, was also co-host of MSNBC's The Daily Rundown alongside Chuck Todd.
Related: Meet Lindsay Czarniak, Wife of New 'Today' Co-Anchor Craig Melvin
Still, it didn’t stop him from watching his future wife on the morning program. "I remember the first time that I saw her on the show. She was wearing this yellow dress. Yellow is her favorite color," he continues. "I just wanted to make sure she wasn't trying to blow me off, so I woke up the next morning to actually watch, and there she was. So it's kind of full-circle."
"I came at a time of a lot of controversy for the show, and it wasn’t, I don't think, a happy occasion, really—for anyone, including me," she recalls. "I was as terrified as I could possibly be because the bosses at the time had made a decision, and I quite literally was the last to know, and I was so afraid, and I was pretty sure that I wouldn't last."
"When I was offered the job, I was in tears," she continues. "And it wasn't because I didn't dream of this job like everyone else does. It was because I was sure that it wouldn't last and that I'd be thrown by the wayside within a few weeks or months…I'm so happy that I survived and I'm still here."
Adds Melvin: "Thrived, not survived. Thrived!"
Savannah Guthrie and Craig MelvinNBC/Scott Gries
"Our kids are essentially the same age," says Melvin. "So when we bring our kids together, the boys tend to hang out, and the girls [do so], even though there's an age difference."
"I didn't go to the concert. I was open to it. My 10-year-old son was like, 'Under no circumstances am I going to a Taylor Swift concert." (Father and son ended up playing laser tag.)
Guthrie and Melvin each started families of their own around the same time, and discussion of juggling their jobs and parenting is, says Melvin, "80 percent of our conversation."
It's this familiarity and chemistry that Kotb is certain will help fans grow accustomed to her absence. "Think about all the holes that have been filled over the years," she told Parade prior to her final day on Today, "when anchors left, and somehow it just kind of all merges together."
"I'm nervous and excited,” Melvin told Parade after signing off the air Monday (his wife and kids were even on hand to cheer him on). “I'm more excited about tomorrow. Today was very emotional."
"I'm sleeping right now with my eyes open; I'm exhausted," Melvin said, laughing (presumably running on adrenaline and, for what it’s worth, looking refreshed). "Tomorrow will be business as usual."
Related: Craig Melvin Reveals the Top Parenting Tip He’s Learned from 'Today' (Exclusive)
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