Craig Melvin will be missing Hoda Kotb today and everyday.
The NBC anchor—who will be replacing Hoda after her final appearance on Today Jan. 10—shared what it's been like as the show gets ready to say goodbye to an icon of television.
"It's bittersweet," Craig exclusively told E! News at Start Today launch event in New York City on Jan. 7. "Everyday it's just a rollercoaster of emotions."
The 45-year-old shared that they have plenty of surprises planned for Hoda, who he called "the heart and soul" of Today, adding, "I'm really, really, really sad about it."
But it'll be a change for Craig, too, who will have to "get up a little earlier" for his new role.
And despite being someone who doesn't do "a lot of emotions," he admitted he's "also a little nervous about Monday,"
In fact, Craig has been feeling "excited and nervous every day in equal parts," noting that he's actually looking forward to his second show in Hoda's spot more than his first.
Ultimately, Craig is hopeful that they'll be able to maintain the spirit that makes the morning show special by not making any "radical changes."
"The idea is hopefully most viewers won't even notice much of a change," he said, before joking, "In fact, on Monday, I'm gonna wear a wig, and we're hoping that half the viewers [will be] like, ‘Oh, Hoda's doing something different with her hair.'"
As for Hoda, the longtime Today anchor first shared she would be leaving the show in September, partly to spend more time with her daughters Haley Joy, 7, and Hope Catherine, 5, who she shares with ex Joel Schiffman.
"Obviously I had my kiddos late in life," she explained, "and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world."
And she was also thrilled that Craig would be taking over her role, telling him after he was announced in November, "You have all the things that this job needs. You're the right person for it."
To see more memorable moments from the Today family, keep reading.
—Reporting by Carolina Bermudez
(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Sheinelle Jones
The cohost of the third hour of Today shares son Kayin as well as twins Uche and Clara with her late husband Uche Ojeh, who passed away in May 2025 after a courageous battle with brain cancer.
“With all three of my children, I try to show them that they're ALL a team, and they have to take care of each other," Sheinelle wrote in a 2015 essay for Today. “At the same time, I'm learning that they each like to know they're special on their own."
Craig Melvin
Three years after the anchor married fellow broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak in 2011, he earned his most cherished title yet: father.
And now, he seizes every opportunity to gush about their son Delano and daughter Sybil.
"When I wake up in the morning," Melvin said to his son during a May 2024 episode of Today, "part of the reason I work so hard is for you and your sister."
Jenna Bush Hager
The Today with Jenna & Friends cohost and her husband Henry Hager are proud parents to kids Mila, Poppy and Hal.
As she put it during a March 2025 episode of the morning show, “I’m pretty sure I’ve come to terms that three, even though it’s an imperfect number, it’s the perfect number for our household."
Hoda Kotb
"Another Halloween in the books," wrote the former host as she celebrated the day with her daughter Haley Joy.
She is also mom to daughter Hope Catherine.
Lester Holt
The former NBC Nightly News anchor shares sons Stefan Holt and Cameron Holt with his wife Carol Hagen.
But more recently, he became a proud "granddude" to three grandchildren: Henry, Samuel and James.
“When my daughter-in-law was pregnant with her first baby ... she said, ‘Well, what do you guys want to be called?’" Holt said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021. "I said, ‘I think I want to be ‘Granddude’ because ‘grand,’ it bows to the fact that I’m older. But ‘dude’ says, ‘I still got a little bit. I still got a little,’ you know?"
Carson Daly
In 2020, the anchor and his wife Siri Pinter welcomed their fourth child, Goldie. The little one joined the couple's older kids Jackson, Etta and London.
Kathie Lee
Hoda's former cohost is a loving mommy to her own two children, Cassidy Gifford and Cody Gifford, with her late husband Frank Gifford.
Savannah Guthrie
The TV personality is a mom to two little ones, Vale Guthrie Feldman and Charles "Charley" Max Feldman, with her husband Mike Feldman.
Al Roker
The anchor and his wife Deborah Roberts are parents to Leila Roker and Nicholas Albert Roker.
Willie Geist
The anchor of Sunday Today has been married to his wife Christina Geist since 2003. They're parents to two children, George William Geist and Lucie Joy Geist.