The journalist, who has been at NBC for 26 years, joked as recently as Monday that she did not know who would take her spot after she moved on.

Craig Melvin will keep it in the NBC family when he replaces Hoda Kotb on the “Today” show early next year. Kotb, 60, announced on the legacy morning show Thursday that as of Jan. 10, Melvin, 45, will move from co-anchoring the 9 a.m. hour to join Savannah Guthrie in co-anchoring the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. block.