Once a frontrunner to host the fourth hour of the Today show, alongside Jenna Bush Hager, Justin Sylvester is getting candid about ultimately not getting the job.
“I’m going to be honest with you: I think it would have been devastating if somebody got it who wasn’t in the NBC family,” he said in a recent interview with The Cut.
However, he joked that he wouldn’t have been so gracious if another fan-favorite, Matt Rogers, got the gig, which went to NBC anchor Sheinelle Jones.
“I would have died if it was Matt Rogers,” he said. “I would have f—ing murdered him, and I love him. I love him.”
Coincidentally, Rogers gave Sylvester his vote for the job while appearing on Watch What Happens Live last year saying, “I think Justin Sylvester is fantastic and I think that he’s perfectly suited for it.”
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Ahead of Jones being announced as Hager’s permanent co-host at the top of this year, the show ran through a rotation of guest hosts throughout 2025, which the former First Daughter once referred to as “first dates,” to fill the empty spot following Hoda Kotb‘s departure. Sylvester, who had already appeared as a commentator on the show, regularly returned to as guest host to the delight of fans.
However, as Jones officially took the seat next to Hager, Sylvester admitted that he knew long before the highly anticipated announcement that the job wasn’t his.
“I knew I was probably not getting that job in September,” Sylvester said on Jeff Lewis Live, per Page Six. “I came to a very quick realization that I’m going to use this opportunity to find another job….so I had given up the job long before.”
Related: ‘Today’-Favorite Matt Rogers Recalls Reaction to Sheinelle Jones Being Picked as Jenna Bush Hager’s Co-Host
Sylvester, who hosted the red carpet for E! at the Emmy’s on Monday, has become synonymous with events where chatting up celebrities is the highlight. He’s also been the face of other pre-award show telecasts for the Critics Choice Awards and the Oscars and was also the host of E!’s Daily Pop.
Referring to himself as a “lady sitter” to The Cut thanks to working in close proximity of — and even in the closets of — iconic women of reality TV, like Kyle Richards, and other major female celebs, Sylvester’s says his sights are set on the biggest “lady sitter” of them all.
“You know, at some point, Andy Cohen’s got to retire,” he joked.
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