Craig Melvin is grateful for his new role on Today, but he admitted there’s one part of the job that seriously “stinks.” The TV personality opened up about his early wake-up time and getting used to his new schedule as Hoda Kotb’s replacement.

They will have to come in with boxes and security and say, you're done,' Melvin joked while exclusively chatting with Parade for the Jan. 17 cover story.

“I was like, ‘Are they forcing you out?’ She’s like, ‘No Craig, I’m OK. I’m leaving,’” he recalled. “I was legit stunned, so much so that after she left, I went back to her dressing room, and I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ It takes a certain kind of courage to leave anything when you’re at the height of your game.”

Craig Melvin made his debut co-anchoring the 'Today' show with Savannah Guthrie on Monday, Jan. 13, after taking over the role from Hoda Kotb.

Dressed in a navy suit and yellow tie that his wife and kids picked out for the occasion, Craig stands at the TODAY desk reading over copy when music begins playing. He looks up, surprised, as the first verse of Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Let Her Cry” comes through the studio speakers.

After the video ended, NBC host Craig Melvin asked Rubio what message the pardons send to the rest of the world. Rubio replied that he would not “engage in domestic political debates” with the media and could not in his role as the head of the State Department.

Craig Melvin's debut as co-anchor of Today proved to be an emotional one. On Monday, January 13, the 45-year-old broadcast journalist — who began his first day in his new gig — received a video message and a handwritten letter from his predecessor, Hoda Kotb, whose last day was Friday, January 10.

Craig recently took over the co-anchor seat alongside Savannah Guthrie upon Hoda Kotb's departure from TODAY. It's a role Craig says he's both nervous and excited about, even though it's not in his nature to emote those feelings.

Savannah Guthrie had an important warning for her Today co-anchor Craig Melvin, two weeks after he replaced Hoda Kotb on the show. See details.

Marco Rubio is refusing to get involved in domestic politics despite multiple news organizations asking for comment on the pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters.

Savannah Guthrie said she was 'the last to know' she was replacing Ann Curry on the 'Today' show. 'When I was offered the job, I was in tears,' the co-anchor told Parade in a new interview.