‘Today’s Savannah Guthrie Recalls Feeling Like a ‘Failure’ After Divorce From Ex-Husband
What To Know
- Savannah Guthrie opened up about her divorce from her ex-husband, Mark Orchard, on Hoda Kotb’s new YouTube series, Joy Rides.
- Guthrie began dating her now-husband, Michael Feldman, not long after her divorce was finalized.
- Guthrie shared that some of her happiest moments were welcoming her and Feldman’s two kids, Vale and Charley.
Savannah Guthrie experienced some of her lowest lows before finding her ultimate happiness.
Guthrie joined her former Today coanchor Hoda Kotb on the debut episode of her new YouTube series, Joy Rides, on Wednesday, January 21. The women discussed everything from Guthrie’s favorite hobbies to Kotb’s future career plans as they rode together during Guthrie’s morning commute to 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
During their discussion, Kotb asked Guthrie, “What was the most difficult time in your life, and what did you learn from it?” For Guthrie, her most difficult time was when she was divorcing her ex-husband, Mark Orchard. The couple reportedly met the same year they tied the knot in 2005. They eventually called it quits in 2009.
“I was in my 30s. I felt old, but I now see that I was pretty young, and I was sad about it,” Guthrie recalled. “And I was also starting a new job at a place called NBC and trying really hard to make my way and make my little dream come true while other dreams were falling apart. And it made me have to really dig deep, and I felt like a failure.”
One bright side to the split was that it gave Guthrie a deeper connection to her faith. “I realized I didn’t have to be perfect to be loved by God. I didn’t even have to be close because I was definitely a failure,” she shared. “And I really felt loved and carried by God, and that was such an important, integral moment of life.”
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Guthrie joined the NBC News family in 2007 and became a cohost of the third hour of Today in 2011. The following year, she took over Ann Curry‘s role as Matt Lauer‘s coanchor on Today and has held it ever since.
Guthrie met her now-husband, Michael Feldman, in 2008 and began dating the following year after her divorce was finalized. One year after Feldman popped the question, he and Guthrie tied the knot in March 2014.
While Guthrie’s divorce was one of her lowest points, Kotb went on to ask when Guthrie was at her “happiest.” She shared, “I will say the most exquisite feeling of joy I’ve ever felt — sorry, it’s a cliché — it’s when those babies were born.”
Guthrie was four months pregnant with her daughter, Vale, during her wedding. She and Feldman welcomed Vale in August 2014, and grew their family with the birth of their son, Charley, in December 2016.
“When I laid eyes on those babies and I heard them cry and I saw them and I held them, it is like an all-encompassing, surpassing joy that was so deep,” Guthrie gushed. “Like, it was waiting for that moment, and it belongs only to them. And I think, for sure, because it was like everything I ever wanted. That’s all I ever really wanted.”
Guthrie’s episode of Joy Rides was filmed before she began her medical leave from Today. Guthrie has been on a break from the show since December 2025 to undergo surgery to remove vocal nodules and a polyp.
Earlier this week, Guthrie announced that she will appear on Today‘s Friday, January 23, episode to air a package about her surgery before returning to her coanchor role on Monday, January 26.
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