Synopsis
Replacing Ann Curry, Natalie Morales has been working as the host for Today’s show presently. She is considered as one of the most prominent figures in the field of journalism for sharing and reporting right news to her viewers. She is the new anchor of the show and along with that, she is also the third-hour co-anchor appearing on programs of NBC channel's Nightly News and Dateline. However, she is said to be leaving the show and host TODAY Show West Coast replacing the current anchor Billy Bush, who is the present host of Access Hollywood Live.
Natalie Morales with Matt Lauer and other important people during interview.
Background
Natalie Morales is an American journalist and host who is the news anchor of NBC News’ Today Show. Morales is a graduate of Rutgers University and is of age 44 married to Joe Rhodes and has two kids with him. Natalie who is a Gemini has a height of 5 feet and 3 inches and earns a net worth of 6 million dollars.
Natalie Morales with her husband Joe Rhodes and children.
Quotes
“"If Someone Is Not Treating You In A Way That You Like, Remember That There Are So Many Nice People Out There. The Problem Is That When You Love Someone, You Make Excuses For That Kind Of Behavior."” —Natalie Morales
Early Life and Career
Natalie Morales with her mother in childhood.
Natalie Morales was born on June 6, 1972, in Taipei, Taiwan. Her father was a Lieutenant Colonel while her mother was a housewife. Morales attended many schools as she traveled with her father during her childhood. However, she graduated holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University doing a double major in Journalism and Latin American Studies, graduating with a Summa Cum Laude.She was also the member of Phi Beta Kappa which is the oldest honor society for liberal arts and science. After graduation, Morales worked for Chase Bank before starting her journalism career for a short period of time.
Journalism and Popularity
With a degree in Journalism Natalie has worked as a reporter cum anchor in Hartford for WVIT-TV. During this period she covered major reporting like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Presidential Elections of 2000 and shootings in Columbia. She also managed to cover news of the Hurricane Floyd and these were one of the major reasons she was noticed all over the world. She got an opportunity to host and report the documentary Save Our Sound which garnered enough appreciation to be nominated for Emmy Awards.She also worked for Court TV behind the scenes and gathered immense knowledge for two long years.
Natalie Morales on a talk show.
Alongside that she started working as the first morning anchor at News 12 leaving her job at WVIT and did not shy away to work as camera operator, editor, and producer for the channel. During this tenure, she covered several interesting stories and got acclaimed and voted as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinas in 1999.
Natalie Morales on TV.
Finally, she got into MSNBC, which was one of the most path breaking decisions for her career. While working for the channel from 2002 to 2006 she not only earned fame but managed to gain high salary and net worth because of her work and experience. During her work period, she covered almost all the major news like the 2004 Presidential Election, Summer Olympics 2003 and trial of Scott Peterson. This made her one of the Top Trendsetter by Hispanic Magazine in 2003.
Natalie Morales in an outdoor interview.
Working for the MSNBC channel for four years she joined the Today show being the national correspondent of the media house-NBC. She replaced Ann Curry as the news anchor and worked for the NBC channel’s other show like Dateline and Nightly News co-anchoring them all the while.Not just that she has also hosted Miss USA 2010 and Miss Universe 2010. In addition, even Miss Universe 2011 and 2014 came in her kitty because of her good work.
Natalie Morales hosting Miss Universe pageant 2010.
In 2016 Natalie Morales, however, announced in the program that she’s leaving Today’s show to join Hollywood Access Live although she will be working as a correspondent for Dateline. Her job is going to end after the conclusion of the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has claimed that she will be moving to fulfill her ambitions in Hollywood. Previously she has appeared already in Rio 2 as newscaster and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! As herself.
Personal Life
Natalie Morales has been married to Joseph Rhodes since 1998. The couple together has two sons- Josh and Luke and together all of them reside in Hoboken in New Jersey. She has been married to him for eighteen years and has a happily married life, but during mid-2016, there were rumors of their marriage heading towards divorce because of her affair with her show’s co-host Matt Lauer.
Natalie Morales with Matt Lauer.
Controversy
In the year 2006, Natalie Morales got into a huge controversy because of her alleged affair with her Today’s show co-host- Matt Lauer. Lauer’s wife- Annette Roque had charged against Natalie for being the home breaker, but they chose to be silent about it. However, recently in 2016 again the couple was linked up together with several media houses also claiming” Natalie Morales and Matt Lauer are not sleeping together?”. Sources also reported that it was this personal clash in their relation which got Natalie fired from the Today’s show on Matt’s insistence, although the journalist claims that it was her career aspiration that she chose to move to California and work for Hollywood Access Live. Interestingly both of them- Natalie and Matt denied their link up rumor; again.