Meredith Vieira Reveals Black Eye On ‘Today’ Show

Meredith Vieira showed up to the “Today” set on Friday with a painful-looking black eye, but told viewers her worst injury might just be a bruised ego.

Meredith Vieira on ‘Today’

The TV personality was filling in for regular co-host Kathie Lee Gifford during the show’s fourth hour, and arrived wearing a pair of sunglasses that spawned immediate attention.

“Okay, one question because you are so not pretentious and you have on sunglasses in studio,” co-host Hoda Kotb began, but Meredith was already prepared to uncover her secret.

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“If you’re going to laugh, I’m not going to tell you,” she cautioned, before taking off her shades and revealing the shiner underneath.

“I had to go to the bathroom and I didn’t put the light on,” she said, explaining that she’d just returned from a cross-country flight and forgotten about a suitcase blocking the walkway.

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“The suitcase is black, and the room is black. It’s dark. … And I go to the bathroom and forget the suitcase is there,” she said. “And I fell over the suitcase and I hit my head on the rim of the dressing room table.”

Meredith had already Tweeted about the incident on Tuesday, telling followers she received a clean bill of health after her doctor looked over the bump.

The doc says I’m ok, but 3 lessons here: turn on the light, ALWAYS get head injuries checked out, and never marry a writer! @rmcjourneyman

— Meredith Vieira (@meredithvieira) August 11, 2015

“The doc says I’m ok,” she wrote. “But 3 lessons here: turn on the light, ALWAYS get head injuries checked out, and never marry a writer!”

She included the last warning on behalf of her husband, journalist Richard M. Cohen, who had already shared his version of events on his blog on Tuesday.

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“I am the one in my house who has multiple sclerosis. I am the only one who is legally blind. I have limited depth perception and glance off doorways if I am not careful – and I am very cautious – because my lateral perception also is deficient,” he posted. “Yet I survive because I have learned self-preservation. I am married to a woman who has not.”

He continued, writing, “Last night, while paying a visit to the bathroom, Meredith fell over a suitcase, slamming her head against a dressing table as she plummeted south. The dog was so embarrassed for her he did not even bark.”

Meredith said that her physician displayed a similar sense of humor about the tumble.

“I had a C.A.T. scan and the doctor said, ‘Amazing, we found a brain,'” she laughed, admitting that this wasn’t her first mishap of its kind.

“I had been there [before],” she said. “The last time I went to the bathroom in the dark I fell into the toilet right before Sochi. And I hurt my back.”

— Erin Biglow