Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford along with author and 'Today' contributor Joy Bauer and EP Jim Bell
Bauer was joined by her two familes — her biological one and the “Today” show gang, including Savannah Guthrie, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb, Jeff Rossen, Tamron Hall, Barbara Corcoran and Jean Chatzky. “It’s just us! This is all you get,” joked Gifford as she greeted Bauer. Main anchors Matt Lauer, Ann Curry and Al Roker could not attend as Roker and Lauer were still in London covering the Queen’s Jubilee and Curry was on vacation.
The author of several books, Bauer told us “Joy Fit Club” is different in that it’s her first in conjunction with “Today” and her segments of the same name.
The cookbook and diet plan “comes from 6 years of [‘Today’ show segments] trying to show people how to eat well and stay healthy,” Bauer tells us.
We caught up with Bell who has personally benefited from Bauer’s wellness tips, shedding 50 pounds, and keeping it off. The “Today” show frontman is about to turn his attention to the Olympics where he’ll be taking over for legendary Olympics showrunner Dick Ebersol producing NBC’s primetime. That means a lot of long days ahead.
“It’ll be Midnight London time, 7pm on the east coast until 5am every night,” says Bell. “I’ll get a few hours of sleep, and then go check out the ‘Today’ show.” The time difference means the morning show will start at Noon London time, each day.
NBC may want to bring along Bauer just to make sure everyone’s eating healthy.
(Photo: Heidi Gutman/NBC)