Savannah Guthrie revealed how overwhelming the Today studio can be in a behind-the-scenes video on Friday. The daytime TV host, who had to overcome a challenge with Hoda Kotb during Friday's show, made the comment while empathizing with one of its stars, six-month-old baby Zoey, and her parents Vincent and Katie.
Caught having a candid heart-to-heart during filming by one of the show's producers, Jennifer Long, Savannah later shared the video (below) of herself and Hoda chatting with their guests on her own social media story.
Zoey and her parents appeared on Today in order to celebrate their heartwarming adoption story. Vincent, a firefighter, first met his now-daughter when he discovered that she had been placed in his fire station's Safe Haven Baby Box in January. Working an overnight shift at the time, Florida-based Vincent went over to investigate the box – which allows individuals to safely surrender a child on a no questions asked basis – when its alarm was triggered.
After struggling for over a decade with his wife Katie to have a baby, the couple were already registered to adopt when Vincent came across Zoey and their story quickly fell into its fairytale place. The pair took Zoey for a mandatory medical examination, and within a couple of days were looking after her at their home. And as the pair explained to Hoda and Savannah on the show, in April 2023, the family became official.
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"Before you finalize [an adoption], anything can happen — and we'd experienced that in the past. So when the judge said, 'You guys are a family,' we kind of looked at each other and we're like, 'We're a family! Holy guacamole, we’re a family!'" Katie told the Today stars. "That was easily the best day of our lives!" she finished.
While the couple have not been in touch with Zoey's birth mom, they hope that through sharing their story nationally she will come to know that her daughter is loved and cared for and how thankful the couple are for being given the opportunity to raise her.
Zoey's visit to the studio was appreciated by all at Today, as other videos shared by the show's producer on her Instagram go to show. In one, Al Roker can be seen playing with the young tot. The soon-to-be first-time grandfather was clearly at ease with entertaining Zoey, which Jennifer recognized in the caption of her story where she wrote: "@alroker is going to be the best grandpa in the world!"
While the Today studio would naturally be overwhelming for any young child, it's clear she was very well looked after by the team on Friday. That day was a busy one for all at the studio, as their Karol G Independence Day weekend concert drew crowds of over 15,000 individuals to the performance space outside the studio in Rockefeller Plaza.
The show's hosts had to battle with the excited sounds of the huge gathering but successfully managed to do so without much trouble. Hoda, Savannah, and Al were joined by Dylan Dreyer, Carson Daly, and Sheinelle Jones as they celebrated one of the biggest turnouts for a Today live event in history.