The Today show officially welcomed Kristen Welker to the team Friday with a glass of champagne and a nostalgic look back at her career.
A video segment on this morning’s broadcast showed Welker’s transition from a very “serious” intern at NBC in her reporter demo reel, to a hard-hitting journalist.
The Philadelphia native attended Harvard University and became a researcher for Weekend Today. She went on to land jobs as a local news reporter in Redding, California; NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and she most recently worked as a White House correspondent for NBC News.
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Welker, 43, is now taking over the Weekend Today seat vacated by Sheinelle Jones, who announced last month that she would be stepping away from working weekends to spend more time with her family. Jones continues as a co-host on the 3rd hour of Today.
Welker said Friday she’s honored to become a member of the Today family.
“To have come here as an intern for the Today show, to shoot that reel — I looked so serious,” Welker said. “To be terrified like that and then to come and sit at this desk… it is the honor of a lifetime.”
