In a revelation that’s sent shockwaves through the broadcast booths of Rockefeller Plaza and beyond, TODAY co-anchor Craig Melvin has finally broken months of tantalizing silence, unveiling a career pivot so audacious it could redefine the dawn patrol of American television. The 46-year-old Emmy winner, who stepped into the spotlight as Savannah Guthrie’s permanent co-host in January 2025—replacing the beloved Hoda Kotb—dropped the bombshell during a December 2, 2025, People exclusive, confessing: “I’ve been holding this close for too long. It’s time to chase the fire that’s been burning since I was a kid in South Carolina.” His next move? Launching Melvin Made, a family-run candle empire that’s not just a side hustle—it’s a heartfelt homage to his late half-brother Lawrence Meadows, who succumbed to colon cancer in 2020, with all proceeds fueling cancer charities. “This isn’t a hobby; it’s healing,” Melvin shared, voice thick with emotion. “After losing Lawrence, I needed something tangible to fight back. And now, with Savannah, the team, and my family by my side, I’m ready to light it up—literally.”
The announcement comes nearly a year after Melvin’s seismic promotion, which capped a decade-long ascent at NBC. Hired in 2011 as an MSNBC anchor, he traded afternoons for mornings in 2018, co-hosting the third hour before anchoring the first and second slots full-time post-Kotb’s emotional exit. “Hoda’s shoes were impossible to fill,” Melvin admitted on air that January 13, 2025, morning, as confetti rained and co-stars teared up. “But this role? It’s the dream I didn’t know I had.” Yet behind the polished segments and viral viral moments—like his bleeped-out banter with Dakota Johnson or grilling Richard Gere on Wisdom of Happiness—Melvin harbored a “Luddite” passion: candle-making, sparked two years ago amid grief. “I was never the crafty type,” he laughed in the interview. “But after Lawrence passed, my brother Ryan and sister-in-law showed me the ropes. Books, YouTube, then Alan Long—my ‘candle Sherpa’ in Virginia—turned it into therapy.”
Melvin Made launches December 2 for Giving Tuesday, a curated line of soy-blend scents evoking Melvin’s roots: “Columbia Dawn” (jasmine and fresh linen for his hometown mornings), “Rockefeller Glow” (cedarwood and citrus nodding to Studio 1A), and “Family Hearth” (vanilla and oak for those quiet nights with wife Lindsay Czarniak and kids Delano, 10, and Sybil, 8). Priced at $38–$55, each jar funds the Colon Cancer Coalition— a cause close after Lawrence’s battle. “Every wick lit is a light against the dark,” Melvin said, crediting Czarniak’s design eye and the kids’ “chaos testing” for the brand’s warmth. It’s a full-circle nod to his pre-NBC days: high school reporter at WIS-TV in Columbia, where he honed a storyteller’s voice that now scents homes nationwide.
The morning-TV world is reeling—not just from the pivot’s poetry, but its timing. With TODAY dominating ratings (up 15% post-Melvin’s pairing with Guthrie), whispers swirled of burnout or bigger NBC leaps (Dateline expansions? Nightly News fill-ins?). Instead, this entrepreneurial leap echoes Kotb’s post-exit family focus and Guthrie’s book empire, blending vulnerability with venture. “Craig’s always been the heart of the desk,” Guthrie told People. “This? It’s him pouring that heart into something eternal.” Al Roker joked on air: “Candles? Now I know what to get you for Secret Santa—something that doesn’t melt under pressure!”
Fans are stunned and swooning. #MelvinMade trended with 500k posts, X ablaze: “Craig trading mics for wicks? Iconic—lighting up grief one flame at a time” (@MorningGlowFan, 40k likes). Celeb endorsements poured in: Kelly Clarkson shared a mock-up scent (“Craig’s Chaos: Coffee and Kids”), while Dylan Dreyer quipped, “Finally, a candle that smells like our green room—hope and hustle.” Net worth watchers peg Melvin’s at $14 million (combined with Czarniak’s), but this could candle it to $20 million by 2026, per Forbes estimates.
Where he’s headed? Not away from TODAY—he’s contracted through 2027—but toward a hybrid empire: anchor by dawn, artisan by dusk. “The desk is home,” Melvin affirmed. “But this fire? It’s family legacy.” In a genre craving authenticity amid AI anchors and algorithm churn, Melvin’s move isn’t exit—it’s ignition. Morning TV just got a wick-ed glow-up. Stream the launch on MelvinMade.com; the scent of change is in the air.
