Carson Daly has been a household name for nearly two decades. Known widely for his hosting of MTV’s Total Request Live in the late ’90s, Daly has found a new home on NBC. He hosts the hit talent competition The Voice, and wakes America up every morning with his gig as co-host of the Today Show.
Anyone who’s followed Daly on his hosting journey, likely knows the bond and relationship the 44-year-old shares with his mother, Pattie Daly Caruso.
In her son’s time on the Today Show, Pattie, who had a 25-year career hosting Valley Views, made a number of appearances; leaving quite the impression on Daly’s audiences as one loving and caring mama, who was beyond proud of her son.
On September 17, 2017, Pattie died suddenly of a heart attack at her home in Palm Desert, California.
“Nobody likes that phone to ring in the middle of the night to get that call,” Daly said to his Today Show co-hosts on his first day back from leave.
A man of strong faith, Daly has never been one to shy away from the role that God plays in his life. In healing from the sudden loss of his mother, he told his Today Show co-hosts that his faith is what’s getting him through.
“I have great faith, great family, incredible friends,” Daly says, “I really could not have gotten past this without my faith in God, my family and my friends, and that’s you guys,” he says to his co-hosts.
“You guys gave my mom the greatest gift ever by employing me on the Today Show because she could watch me every single morning in her kitchen and I know that she did,” he said. “And I know there’s no place where she’d rather have me be than right back here.”
As Daly and his sister have begun going through their mother’s things, he affectionately calls her a “kleptomaniac,” because she would steal the smallest mementos from the Today Show set, or anywhere her kids were doing something, as a way to hold tight to life experiences.