The Relatable Teenage Woe Hoda Kotb & Savannah Guthrie Share

Seasoned celebs like Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie don't have as much online evidence of their teenage years. We only get a glimpse of what these fashionable and bubbly women might have been like pre-NBC morning show when they personally share it with us. Fans of the "Today Show" were fortunate enough to hear the co-hosts share a bit of their high school past with guest Mindy Kaling. While they are infinitely popular today, it turns out neither woman was winning any contest of the sort during their formative years. Kotb herself said that she identified as a self-proclaimed nerd. When Kaling acted skeptical, Kotb and Guthrie adamantly exclaimed, "We were!" To further drive that point home, the pair bonded over a shared teenage woe. Neither went to that pinnacle event of every high schooler's final year of youth — prom.

When the women made their admission to Kaling on the segment, they proudly said they had Kaling "beat in the nerd department." "The Mindy Project" actor had gone to both her junior and senior prom. It was an admission that seemed to have Guthrie ready to bow down in reverence to the decidedly popular Kaling, especially when she clarified that someone had asked her to the dance on each occasion. The co-hosts replied in order to get a date, they had to be the ones doing the asking. It's unclear if Kotb and Guthrie didn't bother with a promposal or if they were turned down.

The surprising declaration wasn't the first for the longtime NBC hosts. During a 2020 episode, when Al Roker inquired about prom memories, the women confessed that it wasn't a tradition they partook in. Savannah Guthrie added, "No one asked me." Comically enough, two other "Today Show" anchors, Roker and Carson Daly, chimed in that they didn't go to their proms either. However, aside from the milestone dance, there have only been a few other occasions in which Guthrie or Hoda Kotb shared what high school was like for them. 

The former posted a throwback picture to Instagram in 2017, showing her with long dark hair and some very '80s curly bangs. The classic picture was taken when she attended Amphitheater High School in Tucson, Arizona. It was also around that time that Guthrie had her first high school job. On a 2023 episode of the "Today Show," Guthrie wasn't afraid to tell fans that her first job was when she was just 14 years old, "I got $1 an hour . . . I bussed tables." After her time in the restaurant, she moved to another food-related field — a cookie store. Guthrie joked that she quickly gained weight before landing her teenage dream job at a skateboard business.

The former attorney held down a few more gigs before she graduated, explaining that her parents weren't about to simply hand over cash or give her an allowance for chores she was expected to do as part of the family.

Hoda Kotb attended Fort Hunt High School in Virginia, where she may not have gone to prom but was voted homecoming queen one year. Speaking to NoVa, she admitted, "There was the head cheerleader, and the head of the drill team — and me. I was kind of the misfit." As she recalled, "I had a funny name, and I had funky glasses, and I was a big athlete." Nevertheless, the future morning show host had a sort of untraditional popularity in high school as she just wanted to be friends with everyone.

The broadcast journalist recently returned to her high school alma mater for its 60th-anniversary celebrations. Her daughter, Hope, sported an adorable cheerleading outfit that matched the Fort Hunt Federals official uniform. Kotb had nothing but praise for the school and some of its former teachers, especially the athletic staff. As a member of the basketball and field hockey team, those individuals may have been particularly influential in her life. Interestingly enough, Kotb's first job was athletic in nature, too — she had a paper route. For delivering the Washington Post, likely via a bicycle, to all her neighbors, the Emmy winner said she made one dollar every 30 days. 

Despite their "nerdy" high school careers, both women have stellar reputations nowadays. They've gone from prom no-shows to appearing on television daily — quite a stunning transformation if we do say so ourselves.