Savannah Guthrie opened up about a recent health scare that left her voice nearly unrecognizable — and the Today co-anchor admitted she got emotional reliving the moment she finally heard it return.
In a segment that aired Friday, Jan. 23, Guthrie, 54, said her voice had grown “scratchier,” to the point where it became hard to “get through a sentence” while hosting. Concerned, she visited voice specialist Dr. Peak Woo, who discovered a “hemorrhagic polyp” — a ruptured blood vessel — on one vocal cord, along with a “vocal nodule” on the other, which he attributed to overuse. His recommendation: microlaryngeal surgery, a delicate procedure performed under general anesthesia to remove the growths.
“We use instruments about the size of an ant’s head to sort of carefully remove the polyp portion, but preserving the tissue surrounding it so it should be able to vibrate,” he told Today.
Guthrie went through with the surgery — and then faced what she called the hardest part of the entire ordeal: total silence during recovery. “Staying silent” became, in her words, the “toughest assignment” of her life. Still, she found a way to express what she couldn’t say out loud, writing on paper after the procedure: “I’m happy.”
After a week of mandatory vocal rest, Guthrie returned to Dr. Woo’s office to test her voice for the first time. She explained that he used “numbing spray” before inserting a tiny camera through her nose to check how her vocal cords were healing. Then came the big moment: he asked her to speak again — and to start with the words she says every morning.
“Good morning, today is Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. I am using my voice for the first time and it sounds [so] good I could cry,” Guthrie said, before hugging Woo and breaking down in tears.
“Once again, I was speechless. [I was] so grateful,” she added in a voiceover.
Dr. Woo noted that restoring someone’s voice can be deeply personal — and intensely emotional.
“the voice is really an expression of your soul and when you suddenly restore it and see that it’s possible, then it can be emotional.”
But Guthrie emphasized the surgery wasn’t the finish line. She said she still needed vocal therapy to get her voice “back in shape,” explaining that the work is meant not only to preserve her voice, but strengthen it going forward.
Guthrie previously announced on Dec. 19 that she would be stepping away from Today for recovery. She is expected to return Monday, Jan. 26.
Looking back, she admitted the silence was difficult in the beginning — and unexpectedly intense.
“It was hard at first. You had to get the hang of silence and solitude and being alone with yourself. It actually can be kind of terrifying, but I found it to be a beautiful moment— spiritual moment,” she shared.
When asked whether she feels back to full strength, Guthrie said, “yes,” but she’s planning changes to protect her voice long-term. That includes adding vocal rest after her Today broadcasts and continuing daily vocal therapy.
At home, she said her family couldn’t be happier. Her husband, Michael Feldman, and their two children, Vale and Max, are thrilled she can speak comfortably again.
“They’re like, ‘Oh great, you can talk again.’ They’re happy about it.”
