Today‘s Savannah Guthrie has opened up over the years about her close-knit bond with mom Nancy Guthrie.
Savannah and her siblings — sister Annie and brother Camron — were raised by Nancy and dad Charles before his death at age 49 from a heart attack.
“[My mom] is strong. She’s like hard, iron, granite strong,” Savannah said on the NBC show in 2023. “We had some hard times when I was a child. We lost my dad suddenly and shockingly. And my mom was so strong, and set aside her own grief in many ways, just to be there and make sure we could all move forward together.”
Savannah thanked her mother for the lessons she taught her, adding, “The greatest gift my mother gave me was faith and belief in God.”
Today viewers got to see Savannah and Nancy’s dynamic on the show over the years in various onscreen segments. In February 2026, news broke that Nancy was missing in Arizona. As search efforts continued, local law enforcement revealed foul play could not be ruled out.
“On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and messages of support,” Savannah said in a statement. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.”
Keep scrolling for what Savannah has said about her mother over the years:
Expressing Her Gratitude
In an open letter for Mother’s Day in 2017, Savannah honored Nancy’s sacrifices for her kids. “As you know, there’s no manual that tells you how to be a mother. But I’m lucky because I had something better: you,” she wrote. “I’ve been watching how you move through this world with integrity and grace for my whole life, and when it came time to be a mother, there was no better example for me to follow.”
Savannah thanked Nancy for prioritizing her children despite her own grief in the wake of Charles’ death.
“I think about when Dad passed away so suddenly. I can’t believe it has been 26 years. You, me, Cam and Annie — I remember how we clung to each other for dear life in the years that followed. Your strength and selflessness in the face of that shock amazes me to this day,” she continued. “As I graduated high school and then college, it would have been so easy for you to hold onto me. You could have said, ‘Why don’t you just stick close to home?’ Instead, when it was time for me to leave and pursue my dreams, you encouraged me.”
She continued: “You cheered me. You made it OK for me to go. And you gave me courage to take a chance on this big dream, assuring me ‘home will always be here for you.’ Your belief in me and your strength are at my core. You’re the reason I’ve accomplished anything at all in life.”
In the sweet message, Savannah highlighted Nancy’s support for her dreams.
“Because you don’t give shallow praise, you don’t say anything you don’t mean. So when you have said over the years, ‘You can do this, honey. Go for it!’ I could start to believe it myself,” she wrote. “And now that I’m a mom, I appreciate you all the more. I love seeing you pour your love into Vale and Charley, and all your grandkids. I feel like I’m getting a glimpse of something I would have been too small to remember: what you were like with all of us when we were tiny. I see the foundation you built in me, as you help me build it in them.:
Acknowledging Nancy’s Strength
During a 2022 episode of the Today show, Savannah recalled her father dying when she was about to enter her senior year of high school. Savannah later attended the University of Arizona and lived at home because they “didn’t have money to afford the dorms.” She felt like she needed to “stick with” her mother and “not leave her” alone.
Savannah ultimately had to make a decision after being up for a big broadcasting job in Montana.
“It was really hard for me to leave her,” she recalled. “She just gave me permission to go, and she could have held on to me, it wouldn’t have taken very much.”
Savannah added: “You don’t spoon feed your kids, you teach them how to eat for themselves … if we’re doing it right they should be self-sufficient, they’re not supposed to be needy, and also we’re not supposed to be the center of their universe.”
Nancy’s Best Parenting Advice
“When I was in my 30s, I really wished to be married and to be a mom, and things just did not happen that fast for me,” Savannah, who shares two kids with husband Michael Feldman, shared on the Today show in 2023?. “And my mom’s confidence that I would be a mom — even as the years ticked by and ticked by and ticked by — meant so much to me.”
Savannah was grateful for her mother’s words.
“She said, ‘Of course you’ll be a mom, and you’re going to be a wonderful mom.’ And for her to have that confidence and faith was so meaningful to me. It got me through some really hard times,” she concluded. “She loves her grandkids. I never knew that she would get to know my kids, because I didn’t know I was going to get to have kids, and it’s just such a joy that she gets to.”
Biggest Lessons From Her Mom
Savannah shared lessons her mother taught her in an article for Today in 2014, writing, “Say you love her all the time. But more importantly, show her, with your loyalty and the sacrifices you make for her. She notices.”
Other key lessons included, “Command respect but never be scary.” There was also a highlight that read, “Tell her she is pretty even during those years when she is definitely not — but always be far more interested in the beauty of her heart and her character.”
The final lesson noted that Nancy “never” stopped being a mom as her kids grew older. “Even when [your daughter] is 42 and about to be a mom herself, she will need you more than ever,” Savannah wrote.
Celebrating Nancy’s Milestones
In honor of her mother’s 80th birthday in 2022, Savannah gave Nancy a shout-out on the Today show.
“She’s lived a life of integrity and loyalty,” Savannah said. “She is a consistent doer of the right thing and the hard thing. She’s a truth teller, whether you really want to hear the truth or not. She’s quick and she’s smart, she’s well-read, she’s curious about everything.”
