TODAY star Savannah Guthrie has spoken candidly about growing up in a new interview.

The Australian-born American broadcast journalist and former attorney first began her career as a legal analyst and correspondent – but she hasn’t always been clean cut and proper.

In fact, Savannah, 53, has revealed that when she was younger, she was a bit of a rebel.

Smoking cigarettes and ditching class aren’t things you’d associate with Savannah, but when she was in high school – this is who she was.

Speaking about her career and unlikely rise to fame in a new interview, Savannah told People: “Nobody was like, ‘There’s a natural talent!’ At all. No one,” she affirmed.

She added: “And by the way, certainly not in high school when I was ditching class and smoking cigarettes at Denny’s and barely got into college and almost didn’t pass the SAT.

“Not then, and not even when I started in local news and had my first job and my hair was terrible, my voice was insane, and I didn’t know what I was doing.

“I was there! I know how unlikely this is.

“If I had seen me, if anyone had seen me, it would be the last person you would ever say, ‘Boy, that one’s got potential.’ It’s the truth,” she said candidly.

After Savannah began her career as a legal analyst and correspondent, she eventually went on to replace Ann Curry as co-anchor of Today, working alongside Hoda Kotb before her recent departure earlier this year.

Speaking about her goals and career in her latest chat with the magazine, Savannah said: “It just goes to show that you have your goals and you live your life and push forward.

“But you have to have some faith that there’s something greater than you, and it’s pushing you toward your ultimate purpose and your destiny.”

During her time on Today, Savannah has conducted interviews with high-profile people such as former President Donald Trump Jr., Mark Zuckerberg, and Hillary Clinton.

She previously served as a primary anchor for NBC’s primetime 2016 presidential election coverage, including the network’s special reporting on the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Savannah was also NBC’s White House correspondent from December 2008 to June 2011.

The famous journalist and news anchor is married to Michael Feldman, a former Democratic political adviser.

He served as former Vice President Al Gore’s traveling Chief of Staff during the 2000 presidential election.

The couple got engaged in May 2013 when they were on vacation in Turks and Caicos.

They got married in March 2014 in a small ceremony in Tucson, Arizona, with their bash described as “an intimate gathering of 80 to 90 people.”

The couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in 2024.

They have two children, Valerie Guthrie and Charles Max Feldman.

Since Hoda left Today, Savannah hosts the show with Craig Melvin alongside co-hosts Al Roker and Carson Daly.