Savannah Guthrie Issues Warning to Craig Melvin During ‘Today’ Episode: ‘This Cannot Last’

Savannah Guthrie warned Today cohost Craig Melvin that his days of staying up late will catch up to him.

“I was up late last night,” Craig, 45, revealed during an episode of Today on Tuesday, January 21.

“Again?” Savannah, 53, asked her colleague. “You know this is a marathon, not a sprint. If you stay up every night watching football and getting up early, this cannot last.”

“I’m gonna have to recondition myself,” Craig replied in agreement. He explained that he “had to see if the Ohio State Buckeyes could vanquish their opponents!”

The Ohio State Buckeyes did end up beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team to win the College Football Playoff championship. Still, Craig’s call time is even earlier now after taking over for Hoda Kotb at the news desk in the show’s early morning hours.

In a previous interview with TODAY.com, Craig revealed that he wakes up at 3:45 a.m. to make it to the Today studio on time for his new role. Because of this, the broadcaster, who shares kids Delano and Sybil with wife Lindsay Czarniak usually aims to head to bed at 8:30 or 9 p.m. on weekdays.

“My wife is going get a medal at some point for putting the kids down most nights, except weekends. I’ll pick up the slack on weekends,” Craig joked. “But that’s the thing about the shift, you really have to commit to a regimen to make it work.”

Craig revealed that he usually has the same routine each morning before heading into the studio, which includes listening to some of his favorite songs during the commute.

“On the car ride in, I listen to gospel music. I’ve got a gospel playlist that I’ve created and cultivated over the last seven or eight years now and I usually listen to that for about the first 45 minutes,” he shared before revealing that he changes the music in the last 15 minutes of the car ride.

“I switch over to the most ratchet hardcore hip-hop and rap that I can stand. It’s actually quite comical,” Craig revealed. “I go from uplift and inspiration to let’s get it going.”

So far, he’s been doing an excellent job as Hoda’s replacement. Last week, the NBC star took the lead on the show when Savannah, 53, was out sick.

“Welcome to Today, so glad you’re with us on this busy Thursday morning,” Craig told those watching at home during the January 16 episode of the long-running series. “Laura Jarrett is in, Savannah’s a little under the weather.”

Laura Jarrett is a fixture of Weekend Today but often fills in on the weekdays when other anchors are out.

“I know what you’re thinking, that after three days of Craig she decided to bail,” he joked, to which Laura, 41, responded, “I wasn’t going to say it … But it’s nice to be with you.”

Savannah ended up returning to the program the next day. She explained that the norovirus “blazed through the house,” causing her family to briefly get sick.

“It was a quick mover. We’re all better,” she told viewers and Craig after her absence during his first week as Hoda’s replacement.