Savannah Guthrie Holds Back Tears on TV After Multiple ‘Today’ Absences: ‘I Was Scared’

Emotions were running high when Savannah Guthrie came back to Today on Tuesday, February 20, after a brief TV hiatus. The newscaster had tears welling in her eyes as she chatted with her colleagues.

It’s been quite a busy few weeks for Savannah, 52, who just released her new book, Mostly What God Does.

“I was scared, I am scared,” she said of writing the personal collection of essays about her faith. “But I also felt like I just had something good to say about God, and I wanted to say it.”

While Savannah has faced a slew of negativity on X following the book’s release and constant promotion on Today, she expressed no regrets about the project. The journalist, who shares kids Vale and Charles with husband Mike Feldman, said she has had “too many blessings.”

“I did it because I wanted to do it, because God made me want to do it,” she added about writing Mostly What God Does.

The faith-based project was marred by criticism of the broadcaster after her recent interview with Kelly Rowland on Today.

“What do you think about your friend Beyoncé,” she asked Kelly, 43, during the segment on February 15. “She’s like your sister, you guys literally grew up together – she’s stepping into country.”

“I’m so proud of her,” the Destiny’s Child alum, who was there to promote her new Netflix film, Mea Culpa, responded.

After Savannah once again pried the singer for details on Beyoncé’s new country album, she was deemed “disrespectful” by X users. Following the awkward interview, the TV host was absent from Today for multiple episodes.

Still, it seems like the NBC personality isn’t letting the critics get her down. Savannah kicked off her book tour on February 15 in Dallas, Texas. She then made her way to Oxford, Mississippi, the following day. On February 17, she visited both Memphis, Tennessee, and Nashville, Tennessee, and then headed to Charleston, South Carolina, on February 18. The rest of her book tour will take place in New York and Connecticut over the next few days.

“I hope the book is appealing and compelling to anyone in any walk of life, because it’s just a gentle call to be loved. And once you feel that love, well, you’ll find that you can’t help but share it. It’s just contagious. And I think that’s really the thrust of the book and really what I was trying to say,” she told Today.com of her latest project.