Savannah Guthrie is hit hardest by Hoda Kotb's “Today” exit

Hoda Kotb’s departure from “Today” brought all of her colleagues to tears – especially Savannah Guthrie.

“Nobody is taking the news worse than Savannah Guthrie,” Craig Melvin, 45, said in a clip the morning talk show shared with X.

“I know, I know,” replied 70-year-old weatherman Al Roker, before 46-year-old Sheinelle Jones quipped, “Let's just show everyone the reality of what we're dealing with.”

The camera pans to Guthrie, 52, who co-anchors the first two hours of the newscast with Kotb. She sits across from the trio, eating something, a bottle of rosé next to her.

“That was a full bottle of Whisper Angel, and now…” Roker joked as Melvin and Jones laughed.

Guthrie kept her face serious as she continued eating from two different plates.

Roker walked over to the journalist and said, “Let me round that up,” as he poured some more rosé into Guthrie’s glass.

“We love her so much,” Guthrie replied. “And as you said, Sheinelle, we can balance our grief at missing her and loving her so much with our gratitude that it happened.”

“I always tell my children not to be sad that it's over, but to be happy that it happened,” she continued. “And just joy and admiration for their bravery.”

“But that's what I want people to know, and I think people at home know that,” Jones added. “We really are family, so at the end of the day we'll still be part of their lives, in their house, but Hoda has a very special relationship with each and every one of us.”

Roker echoed his co-host's sentiments, saying: “In a family, people move on. You think not only about what it means to us, but what it means to the person, and we couldn't be happier for them.”

“Sad news for us, great news for them,” Melvin noted.

The correspondents also expressed their affection for Guthrie, who said, “I love you too and we just have fun like we do on the 'Today Show.' I'm so proud of her.”

“You two have been such trailblazers,” Jones told her friend. “As two sisters who have a national morning show, you changed the rules of the game and now it's kind of normal!”

“I love her so much,” Guthrie said, getting emotional. “And like I always say, Hoda, hold your hand and I'll go anywhere with you. And I'll always be by her side, whether we're sitting there or sitting on the porch in Lazy Boys when we're older.”

In another sweet segment that aired Thursday, the former lawyer was so overcome with emotion that her false eyelashes came off, leading to a hilarious moment between her, Kotb, 60, Roker and Jones.

“Here’s my eyelash,” Guthrie told Kotb as she handed her one live on air.

Kotb then showed viewers at home a close-up of the false eyelashes.

Guthrie teasingly tried to pass the whip to Jones, who interjected, “That's disgusting!” and jumped out of the way, laughing.

“I don’t want to hold a whip, that’s okay,” Roker said before beginning his own report.

Kotb said Thursday morning that she is ready to “start a new chapter in her life,” which includes her exit from the show in early 2025. She has been Guthrie's co-host since 2018, 17 years on “Today” and 26 on NBC.

During the meeting with her co-hosts, Guthrie told Kotb, “Hoda, we love you so much. And when you look around and see those tears, it's love. You are so loved… We don't want to imagine this place without you.”

“But I also want to say I'm so proud of my girlfriend,” she continued. “You have guts. When someone leaves at the peak of their career – leaving something wonderful that you love, where it's easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun, and says, 'But I dream even bigger,' into the great unknown, you have so much guts.”

Guthrie also took to social media, posting a reel of the morning show on Instagram.

“Oh, Hoda. All the tears for you,” she captioned her post. “Out of love and joy and most of all gratitude for this beautiful soul who has light, warmth, kindness and faith in abundance. I love you with all my heart, dearest Hoda. We will always be by each other's side.”