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Hoda Kotb’s Today show replacement has been announced as Craig Melvin nearly two months after the host of 17 years announced her exit.

The news was revealed on Thursday’s edition of the long-running NBC morning show.

“Craig Melvin is the new anchor of the Today show!” co-host Savannah Guthrie gushed, calling this “one of the most popular decisions NBC News has ever made.”

Melvin became a news anchor for Today in 2018 and co-host of Third Hour of Today the following year. He will co-anchor alongside Guthrie for the 7 and 8am hours beginning January 13, NBC said.

“You were made for this job. … You have all the things that this job needs. You’re the right person for it,” Kotb told her successor.

Melvin said it was “the latest in a long line of blessings.”

“I am beyond excited and grateful… I talked to mom and dad yesterday and I’m thankful they’re still young enough and healthy enough to be able to see this.”

The replacement comes after Kotb announced she was leaving the network after 26 years on September 26.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” the host said at the time.

The broadcast journalist, who turned 60 in August, explained that spending time with her young daughters, Haley, seven, and Hope, five, was also an important part of her decision.

“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she said. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.

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“And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world,” Kotb said.

She clarified that she will continue hosting the Today show alongside co-anchor Savannah Guthrie through January 1, 2025.

Kotb has been an integral part of NBC News for nearly three decades, having first joined the network in 1998 as a correspondent on its weekly nighttime show Dateline.

In 2008, she moved on to co-host the fourth hour of the Today show with Kathie Lee Gifford and then Jenna Bush Hager in 2019.

After NBC fired Today show host Matt Lauer in 2017 following accusations of sexual misconduct, Kotb stepped in alongside Guthrie as a temporary replacement. Her role became permanent weeks later as viewers responded well to the pairing.

Speaking to TheNew York Times, Guthrie commended Kotb’s decision: “It takes such guts to leave a place where you’re so comfortable, so beloved. There’s nothing rash about this.”

Kotb also wrote a letter to the Today staff outlining her plans to “remain a part of the NBC family.”

“Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart. I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”

MAFS star Kristina was left heartbroken and broke down in hysterical tears after a shock twist from experts on her marriage to Kieran.

Kristina came face-to-face with her ex-husband as the couples were brought back together for a special dinner party in the E4 show.

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And it certainly made for an emotional reunion, with dog walker Kristina’s emotions getting the better of her on Wednesday night.

But in a teaser clip ahead of the second part of the reunion, Kristina is seen breaking down in hysterical tears as she and Kieran sit in front of experts Paul, Charlene and Mel.

Kristina says: “How much did it mean to Kieran, because it meant the absolute f****** world to me.”

Kieran and Kristina both cry as they sit beside each other on the sofa.

But then emotions are heightened even more as Paul leans forward and questions: “Why are you not together?”

Kieran looks up at Paul while Kristina can be seen in tears, and holds her hand over her face.

The episode then drew to a close, with MAFS viewers set to find out what is going on between the pair on Thursday night.

The episode before saw Kristina tell her ex husband: “I have really struggled. I feel like now I’m still just trying to adjust.

“I still pinch myself where I think, I was married. Do you know what I mean?”

Kieran told Kristina: “I think I’m quite numb.”

She then asked if he was “ever 100 per cent in it”, adding: “I feel it hasn’t really left an impact on you.”

Kieran told his ex wife: “Just because I don’t get as emotional as you, doesn’t mean that I’m not feeling anything. It’s sad for me.”

Kristina started to cry as she said: “I feel like I put my life on the line for you but nothing stands out for you.”

She then stormed out of the room, closely followed by her girl pals.

Sitting out the back, Kristina told Emma, Sacha and Lacey: “I don’t want to cry.

“He’s so f***ing forgetful. What did this journey mean to you? Because it meant the f***ing world to me.”

Kieran was shown looking concerned before admitting: “I’ve got to watch how I tread. I hate seeing her upset, I hate it.

“I just feel bad for her, really f***ing bad.”

Once Kristina had calmed down, Kieran appeared and they sat down together for a chat.

He then tried to reassure his ex wife that he cares about her before apologising for upsetting her.

“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here,” Kieran told her.

“I don’t want to see you upset. I just…I’m sorry you feel the way you feel.

“I’ve not given you the time you need or the attention you need and I’m sorry for that.”

Kristina and Kieran quickly became fan favourites when the 2024 series of MAFS UK kicked off.

However, Kristina soon starting struggling with the lack of intimacy in their relationship.

Kieran later made the heartbreaking confession that “the spark had gone” and they split during a commitment ceremony.

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Her odds to succeed Gary Lineker as the next Match of the Day host have shortened dramatically, but Kelly Cates seems happy enough with her lot in life right now.

“Do you know, and you never want to say this, but at the moment I’ve got a really lovely mix of everything,” the Sky Sports presenter tells The Independent from her home in London.

“I’ve got TV, live matches, radio, and when it gets towards the end of the season I do live Champions League games too. I could be at an Olympics or a World Cup during the summer so the balance of everything feels really nice. But I’m not tempting fate.”

Cates has earned huge acclaim for her presenting on Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage, including its flagship Super Sunday programme, working alongside pundits such as Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards.

She also hosts on BBC Radio 5 Live and recently started her own podcast, Not Just Football, with Hayley McQueen and Christine Lampard.

Cates’ easy-going style has gained her a reputation as one of the UK’s leading sports presenters. She is behind Mark Chapman and Alex Scott in the early running to succeed Lineker on Match of the Day, but ahead of Kelly Sommers and her close friend Gabby Logan at the time of writing.

Speaking last week before news officially broke of Lineker’s exit at the end of the season, the daughter of Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish was diplomatic when asked about her chances.

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“Gary is still very much in the job and I know him,” said Cates. “Chappers and Gabby, who are also being mentioned as frontrunners, are really good mates of mine.

“I’m certainly not going to put myself in the frame for a job that still has somebody in it and where the people being linked with it are my friends. And I love doing live football. I’m happy where I am.

“When I cover Liverpool games at Anfield, I get to catch up with my mum and dad, even if it’s just five minutes because they’re always the last ones out of the building. I usually head straight back to London if it’s a Sunday game, but I always pop up and say hello.

“I do some work at Premier League Productions out of Stockley Park on a Monday morning show with Ian Wright. We pick out the big stories of the weekend, so I get to do all kinds of really interesting things and I’m really busy.

“Moreover, I do them all in different places so people don’t get sick of me! I’m not angling or looking to do something different because I’m genuinely happy with what I’m doing.”

Whether or not that will change should Cates’ BBC bosses table a tantalising offer to host the greatest sporting institution in British television history remains to be seen.

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Cates grew up in a football-dominated household and has always been around the game.

In her early twenties, she quit her maths degree at university in Glasgow to take up a role at the newly created Sky Sports News channel in 1998 and has never looked back.

The 49-year-old remembers: “Suddenly Sky took on a load of kids, basically, who came straight in and they said, ‘We’ll let you go and make telly’.

“There wasn’t a massive budget but Sky just wanted young, enthusiastic people and they didn’t want to take too much of a risk by putting their best people on it. It was a huge decision to leave university, but I thought, ‘This isn’t an opportunity I’m going to get again’.”

Cates grew up watching Des Lynam presenting Match of the Day and cites him and Logan as her inspirations.

“Des was the gold standard,” says Cates with a huge smile. “He had that sense of being engaged with fans and got every single aspect of it right – I loved that tone. It’s the kind of tone that I like watching and listening to. It kind of makes sense that I would aim for, but not quite reach, that.

“I worked for ESPN years ago and they had a mantra of ‘Take the sport seriously but don’t take yourself seriously’. For me, that’s the best approach to take.”

At 51, the more experienced Logan is someone Cates has long admired.

“I always looked at Gabby’s career progress and watched her journey,” she explained. “It was brilliant to see and, even though she’s not much older than me, it felt like she was always the next step.”

Women such as Cates, Logan and Laura Woods have enjoyed hugely successful broadcasting careers but the industry remains largely male-dominated.

“Obviously you see a lot more women on screen, but I’d like to see that backed up in the same numbers behind the cameras as well,” she says. “Now I’m older, I feel much more protective of younger women coming into the industry.”

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How does she enjoy working with Neville and Carragher?

“I don’t know how Gary has time for everything he does – he just can’t stop,” laughs Cates. “He just needs to be on the go all the time, his mind works that quickly. It is great working with him, but sometimes the producer will need to rein him in a little bit, saying, ‘We can’t do all of that and we certainly can’t do it with five minutes’ notice, we might need to put a bit of planning into this.’

“But I’m lucky in that I work with some of the most respected voices in football. If you have any questions you want to ask, these guys are the best people to ask. It’s really nice to work with people when you’re always interested in what they have to say. Sometimes I have an idea of where they’re going to go with an answer, but I always care about what they’re going to say and that’s great.”

Cates’ relationship with them is largely professional, though, with little socialising away from work.

“We wouldn’t phone each up and go for a coffee outside of work,” she admits. “But I get on with them and they’re in that bit between mates and colleagues. I’m not saying I wouldn’t go out for a coffee with them! But everyone is always so busy so it never really works out.”

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Cates split from her husband Tom Cates in 2021 but their relationship is amicable, which helps her juggle a hectic work schedule and bringing up their two teenage daughters.

“The girls are with their dad at weekends,” she says. “Although we’re not together, we get on fine and he’s really flexible with the girls, so we manage it mostly between us. The girls are getting a bit older now and they think they don’t need as much; that’s what they tell us but they do!”