“Today” show co-host Matt Lauer is officially retiring the NBC show’s popular “Where in the World is Matt Lauer?” segment after 10 seasons of globetrotting… for now.
On Friday’s Access Hollywood Live, Billy Bush asked Matt – live via satellite from Barbados – if he was ready to hang up his traveling hat.
“Are you done with ‘Where in the World’ for sure?” Billy asked Matt.
“You know, 10 sounds like a better number to end on than nine did, so I think so,” Matt said. “I think we’ve had a great time. We’ve been to 51 places… around the world.”
However, the veteran journalist left the door open for the segment to return in the future.
“It gets tougher and tougher to find extraordinary places,” he said. “So, if we’re not completely done with it, we’re certainly going to rest it for a good long while and maybe revisit it with a twist at some future date.”
In addition to Barbados, the 10th and (possibly) final “Where in the World…?” trip saw the 53-year-old traipsing through Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland and Namibia. It was the latter locale where Matt impressed “Today” viewers – and his co-workers – with his extreme sports skills as he gracefully skied down the sand dunes along the country’s Skeleton Coast.
“I think the most fun I had was the sand-skiing,” he told Billy. “It was a good way to start the week.”
As for the most memorable moment of this trip, Matt said Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, won him over.
“That reveal on Thursday from the top of Europe – 11,745 feet up – just the trip up there was ridiculous,” he said. “But to stand at that spot and look out over the glaciers and the Swiss Alps – that, I think, was my favorite moment of the week.”
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