Craig Melvin sparked an uncomfortable live-TV moment on Today when he appeared to take correspondent Tom Costello to task for arriving late.
The frosty back-and-forth unfolded Thursday during the 3rd Hour of Today, as Costello, 62, reported on the busy and chaotic Labor Day weekend travel rush.
Costello had just wrapped an interview with an airline worker at Reagan National Airport when the broadcast returned to Melvin, 47, anchoring from NBC’s New York studios.
What might have been a routine handoff quickly turned tense, however, after Melvin publicly called out Costello for apparently oversleeping earlier that morning.
“Great story there, Tom. It’s a shame we almost didn’t see it this morning,” Melvin said with pointed sarcasm.
‘We hear that if you were trying to catch a flight this morning, you would have missed it. What happened?’ Melvin pressed as a flustered Costello started laughing.
Melvin gave the camera a very sassy look, raising his eyebrows and smirking.
‘I’ve been doing the Today show for 23 years and I have never overslept until this morning,’ Costello responded.
Craig Melvin got into a tense on-air clash with Today correspondent Tom Costello, as he brutally called Costello out for showing up late
The icy exchange took place during the 3rd Hour of Today on Thursday, while Costello, 62, was covering the chaos of Labor Day weekend travel
He then went on to explain that there was a simple explanation to his lateness: his clock had broken.
‘I get a phone call from my producer at 6:30 and he said, “Where are you?” I said, “I’m in bed, why?” He said, “It’s 6:30.” I said, “No it’s not, it’s 1:30,”‘ Costello said.
‘My clock said 1:30. I took photographic proof a little afterwards. My clock was way off,’ he added, as a snap of a clock came across the screen that read 1:48.
‘I think it’s time to buy a new clock. All of us on the Today show, we get one mistake. Now I’ve done it. It’s my first one.’
Melvin added that Tom was allowed to make two mistakes because he had been there so long, before he threw in another quip.
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‘1987 called, it wants its Timex back,’ he said, calling out the fact that Costello still used an old-fashioned alarm clock.
‘I don’t know what to say, I guess I have to start using my iPhone,’ Costello added.
It comes days after Melvin and his co-host Dylan Dreyer were left shocked after Today correspondent Emilie Ikeda revealed her pregnancy live on air.
‘Great story there Tom. It’s a shame we almost didn’t see it this morning,’ he sarcastically said. ‘We hear that if you were trying to catch a flight this morning, you would have missed it. What happened?’ he pressed as he gave the camera a very sassy look, raising his eyebrows and smirking
Costello explained that there was a simple explanation to his lateness: his clock had broken
‘I get a phone call from my producer at 6:30 and he said, “Where are you?” I said, “I’m in bed, why?” My clock said 1:30. I took photographic proof a little afterwards. My clock was way off,’ he said, as a snap of a clock came across the screen that read 1:48
The TV host, 32, broke the news during Monday’s episode of 3rd Hour of Today as she stood in for Al Roker.
Discussing her weekend, Ikeda, from Philadelphia, explained that it was ‘best encapsulated with pictures.’
The feed then cut to images of her and husband Pat, who she married in 2022, excitedly holding up an ultrasound.
‘For those at home, they legitimately don’t know. I’m surprising them right now,’ the mom-to-be shared as Melvin and Dreyer exclaimed with excitement.
‘Wait, are you serious? Congratulations!’ asked Dreyer, 45, as Melvin extended a hug to Ikeda, adding: ‘This is so exciting!’
NBC correspondent Ikeda explained that she is currently five months pregnant with the tot due in January.
‘I’m so excited. And now I’m in the stage where I can feel the baby kicking, which is miraculous,’ she said.
‘I might be in a bad mood. I might be preoccupied. I might be into a script and then I feel this baby kick and I’m like, “Oh, it’s my buddy.”‘