The 'Today' co-anchors are there for each other during the pandemic -- but from a distance.
Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie might not physically be together, but they're there for each other amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with ET's Kevin Frazier, the co-anchors opened up about leading the Today show through the outbreak, and how they're leading their families at home.
Guthrie worked from home for nearly two weeks last month out of an abundance of caution after coming down with a mild sore throat and runny nose. She was patched in from a makeshift studio in the basement of her home, while Kotb manned the desk from the Today show's New York City office. Guthrie briefly returned to the studio last week, but as of Monday, is back to working from home.
As Guthrie told ET, she lives a couple hours outside of New York City, and it's important for her to be with her family during this time. She shares 3-year-old son Charley and 5-year-old daughter Vale with husband Michael Feldman.
"We're all getting a lot of time together, which is actually really great. But also I feel like our kids really need us right now -- whatever age they are -- whether they seem like it or not," she explained. "They know and they sense, even little ones like ours."
For now, Guthrie is keeping it light with her kids, and drinking some afternoon coffee to keep up with them. "So much toddler time! So much Candy Land, so much Chutes and Ladders," she said.
Kotb, who is mom to daughters Haley, 3, and Hope, 1, said she's also focused on being the most present mom she can be during this time. "Once those lights go off at work, be at home! I feel like that's the key," she shared. "I was kind of wondering how our kids are going to react when the world does go back to normal, when they're so used to family dinners always, and all this time with us."
In the meantime, Kotb and Guthrie are making the best of this new world. They're both doing their own hair and makeup, which Guthrie said their years in local news have prepared them for.
"We both spent many, many years in local news, doing our own hair and makeup, and results speak for themselves. If you go back and look at the tapes with our crazy hair. We loved it, it was such a nice thing to have our hair and makeup person, and now we're doing it ourselves. We're just doing the best we can. It's not so great, but it can be worse," she joked.
Kotb, who is staying just 30 minutes away from the studio with her fiance Joel Schiffman, has also developed a routine for her wardrobe.
"I strip everything off, I throw everything in the wash and jump in the shower like boom. Like, get rid of it, get rid of it all," she said. "I try to do all of that obviously before I see Joel or the kids."
"There's literally nobody here... the building isn't sick, but if you stop at the drugstore or get in a car, I just try to be mindful of it," Kotb added.
Guthrie and Kotb are committed to delivering the news as long as they're able to during the pandemic.
"We still have a long way to go, so I think Savannah are just -- we're both kind of pacing ourselves, knowing that this is a marathon," Kotb expressed. "I think we're just trying to keep each other's spirits up as we let people know on a daily basis just what's going on and things they need to know."
See more in the video below.
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