Late last year, news of sexual allegations against Today show host Matt Lauer shook the nation. Viewers and fellow Today show hosts alike tried to process the accusations against their once well-loved and respected colleague.

News recently came out that Hoda Kotb would be promoted to co-anchor of Today, replacing Lauer who was dismissed from the position in November. Kotb sat beside Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday making her official debut as part of the co-anchor team.

Kotb and Guthrie revealed the news together the day after Lauer was fired, and both appeared to be visibly shaken by the accusations. In a later issue of People magazine, Guthrie stated ““I remember reading something later that said I had grabbed Hoda’s hand, and of course that’s not something you plan. That’s just something you do because you have a real friend, and you need to hold her hand.”

Just minutes before going on air, Kotb she says she walked into Guthrie’s dressing room, and “we said a prayer.”

“I won’t forget it. I said to Savannah after that prayer, ‘We’re gonna make it through this together,’” added Kotb. “We just sort of sat there and I was sort of on autopilot, I don’t really remember a lot of it, but I do remember just sort of holding onto Savannah and saying it just wasn’t in our hands anymore, it was in God’s hands.”

The pair have found a silver lining in all the aftermath, saying that the Today staff has drawn a lot closer of the last few weeks. Hoda said she feels a responsibility to make sure the “incredible staff” she and Savannah work with are coping with the changes.

“We ask how they’re doing, we want them to feel good, we give them hugs,” she said. “Just so they remember this is bigger than one person, it’s bigger than Matt, it’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than Savannah, it’s bigger than all of us.”

“You pull together and you focus on the foundation and what keeps you together. I think that’s what we’ve all been trying to do,” Guthrie said. “And for me, I just am trying to get comfortable with how complicated the feelings around all of it are, and it is complicated. And just trying to have love and compassion for everyone concerned.”