Savannah Guthrie’s 3-Word Secret Code Word That Would ‘Pull Her Immediately’ Off the Air Amid Her Mom’s ‘Nightmare’ Abduction
Over two months since her mom Nancy’s disappearance, it made sense that Savannah Guthrie couldn’t just stay in Tucson with her family waiting for news. So, seeing her back on the Today show felt like an understandable step, despite the ongoing investigation. But it’s also felt very obvious that any big movement in the case would mean Guthrie possibly missing time again.
And NBC reportedly has a plan to protect Guthrie in case news about her mom’s case breaks while she’s on the air. An insider told the Daily Mail that if that happens, NBC would have a producer tell Guthrie that she’s “needed off set,” and that Guthrie understands that this is a code word.
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“We would pull her immediately, mid-segment if we had to,” the insider told the outlet. “She knows if one of the producers tells her she’s ‘needed off set’ that there’s a development.”
“She would understand that there was news about her mom and we’d take her into an office and tell her, at the same time that another anchor would report it as a breaking story.”
The source was clear that the show would “never in a million years” ask Guthrie to deliver news about her mother’s disappearance unless that’s what she wanted to do. And the insider also confirmed that Guthrie understands that the story will need to be covered and “trusts” the network’s approach.
“Savannah understands that she has a public who is very invested in Nancy’s story, and understands that we wouldn’t necessarily wait for her to find out before reporting it,” the source explained.
Guthrie has been back on the Today show since April 6, and the insider said she was “welcomed with open arms, lots of hugs, some tears, some smiles.” And she reportedly came back with full support from NBC, whose top execs “have had her back the entire time whether she wanted to come back or not.”
In fact, the source even said the network would accommodate her if she needed extra time off. “If she isn’t feeling it, or needs more time off, she will be given it,’ the source said. “They would love to have Savannah back full time, but if she has to leave, they will allow her, but they anticipate she is back for good.”
This comes after a friend of Nancy Guthrie, called Mary Tate Engels, commented on a Facebook post “This is like living in a nightmare! And torture for this family! 💔.” Engels lives in Tucson and is in the same book club as Guthrie. She also said that she and Nancy Guthrie’s family are extremely “concerned” over the “heartbreaking” situation.
Guthrie was taken from her house sometime between the night of January 31 and the early hours of February 1 by a masked assailant. Multiple ransom notes were sent to several news outlets, but no ransom was ever paid. Police have not yet identified a suspect or motive.
The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is up to $1 million.
