‘Today’: Ann Curry Opened Up About Her ‘Lack of Chemistry’ With Matt Lauer

Although it’s been eight years since Ann Curry left Today in 2012 after her run as the morning show’s co-anchor, her abrupt dismissal is a still-talked-about topic.

The journalist opened up in a 2019 interview about her experience and feelings on what was deemed her “lack of chemistry” with former anchor Matt Lauer.

Curry described finding out she’d landed the co-anchor role

In a conversation with Television Academy Foundation, Curry opened up about the moment she was offered the role of co-anchor on Today.

“[Former president of NBC News] Steve Capus sat me down,” she said in the 2019 interview,” and said, ‘Guess what?’ and he told me I was [in] … and I remember walking out of his office elated.”

Curry described her first day on the job in her long-sought-after role and the concerns in the back of her mind about how the position, ironically, would distance her from her first love – journalism.

Curry admits she was “just stunned. I mean, I’d been on the broadcast for so long. I remember feeling really joyful.”

“By the time I became co-host, you were really limited to one or two, or maybe three at the top, news interviews. . .,” she said. “It didn’t feel as much of a news job as all the other jobs I’ve ever held. . . I did still have a kind of lingering worry of ‘can I remain true to what I’ve always done, my true mission?’

Still, it was an offer Curry couldn’t turn down, to finally be promoted to the anchor chair was a dream come true.

“Beyond that, I knew the team,” she said. “I felt comfortable with the team, I knew everyone and I was very hopeful.

Curry discussed ‘chemistry’ and the end of co-anchoring on ‘Today’

The 63-year-old journalist ended her co-anchor run live on the air on June 28, 2012. She explained to viewers that this was her final day on the program.

With Al Roker, Matt Lauer, and Natalie Morales uneasily looking on, Curry emotionally addressed viewers. “It’s not easy to say,” she stated, “but today is going to be my last morning as a regular cohost of Today. . . This is not how I expected to leave this couch after fifteen years.”