Lester Holt is back in action after fans questioned his absence from NBC Nightly News. The broadcaster appeared on the Tuesday, February 4, episode of the program after a brief time away from the show.
The Monday, February 3, episode of NBC Nightly News saw Hallie Jackson filling in for Lester, 65. “Good evening from Washington, I’m Hallie Jackson in for Lester,” she said after the introduction of the biggest stories of the day. But she did not say why Lester was missing from the broadcast.
Viewers took to the comments section on the show’s YouTube account to ask about Lester’s whereabouts on Monday.
“Hey where is Lester? I watch for him! I hope you are okay sir! You are a national treasure!” one person wrote, while another said, “Where is LESTER AT.”
The longtime anchor did not address the previous day’s absence when he returned to the program on Tuesday. Instead, he carried out his usual hosting duties and ended the episode with a touching segment about a woman who saved the “photos of a total stranger” amid the Los Angeles wildfires. She began collecting and cleaning the lost images she found “in the hopes of reuniting them with their owners.” After the segment aired, Lester signed off with his usual sweet sentiment.
“That is Nightly News for this Tuesday; thanks for watching, everyone. I’m Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other,” he said while signing off the episode.
Viewers praised him on YouTube after the episode was posted on the show’s official account on Tuesday.
“Let’s give thanks to Lester Holt for his service, professionalism and charisma,” one person wrote in a YouTube comment, while another person said, “He’s pretty great.”
“He is the best,” another person wrote, as another said, “Ty Lester for all you do! It can’t be easy to deliver all this bad news!”
Lester recently appeared in a video for NBCU Academy to share life lessons and talk about what it means to be a good leader in the newsroom.
“I know that people watch me very carefully sometimes. Sometimes it’s just encouraging words at the right time,” he said in the February 3 interview. “The pandemic was suddenly on us and people were being sent home. I remember saying to the younger folks: “This could be the biggest story of your career. The country is shutting down, and none of us have ever been through anything quite like it.”
The NBC personality went on to stress the importance of his leadership role at the network and his mission for each broadcast.
“It’s important for me to really step up and help people understand the enormous responsibility we have. We’re talking to millions and millions of people every night,” the newscaster continued. “We’re making decisions on their behalf in terms of what we think are the most important stories of the day. That’s a lot of trust. It’s really important for me to have a staff that’s really grounded and can appreciate what’s expected of us by our viewers.”
