The Untold Truth Of Natalie Morales

Long before Lauer was given the boot from Today for alleged "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace," he was the subject of another scandal: an alleged affair with Morales. 

According to the National Enquirer, the rumors go all the way back to 2006, when Lauer and Morales allegedly had a tryst while covering the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Scandalous whispers lingered for years. There were even stories claiming Morales' younger son was Lauer's "love child." The rumored romance was even cited as a possible reason Morales made the move to the West Coast and Access Hollywood in 2016. 

Sources told Page Six, "There's an awkwardness between Matt and Natalie... He protected her for a long time and now it seems like something has gone awry."

Morales vehemently denied any affair, telling the tabloid, "There is absolutely no truth to this completely absurd story. It is damaging, hurtful and extremely sexist... This move was dictated by me and my desire to grow in my career. Any insinuations beyond that are uninformed."

In 2012, comedian and provocateur Kathy Griffin told USA Today, "I just found out, I'm very excited, I'm re-banned from the Today show... This time my camp heard that it was actually Natalie Morales." According to Griffin, Morales was miffed that Griffin was "rude to her at the Golden Globes" that year and prompted the ban.

Asked by a fan on Twitter (via Radar Online) if she really instituted the ban, Morales wrote, "No. Total bogus PR." A Today spokesperson backed up Morales' denial with an official statement that read: "The idea that Today show anchors and hosts ban guests from appearing on the show is silly. There was no incident between Natalie and Kathy at the Golden Globes or anywhere else. In fact Natalie is a big fan of Kathy's."

But whatever actual beef the two may or may not have had seemingly ended a few years later. Griffin has a 2015 Today appearance credited on her IMDb page, not to mention an affable, if not downright fawning interview Morales granted the comedian on Access Hollywood in 2016.

In 2015, Morales took her first stab at the infamous American Ninja Warrior obstacle course in a segment for Today, but she fell short on one of the challenges, and by "fell short," we mean she slammed into the water flat on her back. Ouch!

She returned to the intense competition in 2017, this time competing on behalf of Red Nose Day, which is a charity dedicated to ending child poverty. As evidenced in the video above, Morales fared slightly better this time around, making it to the third obstacle before wiping out.

Though part of the appeal of doing the show again was to "conquer some of her fears," her priority was the charitable cause. In an interview with Mario Lopez, she said, "Here in the U.S., just in the last two years, they've raised over $60 million for children's organizations and to help end child poverty, so I'm like, 'You know what? I'm gonna throw my weight behind this.'"

Though she's clearly doing quite well financially, Morales doesn't pay others to take care of her sons, Josh and Luke. She told the Argus Leader, "When I'm home, I'm 100% with them," including cooking meals for them and making them do their chores. Even so, Morales doesn't consider herself a candidate for mom of the year.

In a particularly candid Today segment, she confessed to a rough parenting moment following a wrong turn on the New Jersey Turnpike while taking the boys to soccer. What followed was "an expletive-ridden ride for my children," Morales said. "It was thirty minutes of f-bomb, GD, you name it. My poor kids got very quiet. They were like crickets in the backseat." She even confessed that her husband told her later that night that their youngest had repeated "the GD word" while he slept in their bed with them. "My kids were in shellshock this morning!" she lamented. 

Chin up, girl. We've all been there.  

Thanks to her father's long career as "a high-ranking Air Force officer and later a U.S. diplomat," Morales trapised the world during her childhood. She was born in Taiwan and later lived in Brazil and Panama before a long stretch in Spain, where she says she spent her "formative years," learning Spanish and absorbing the culture.  

For Morales, the experience was nothing but wonderful. "And learning languages has clearly opened so many doors for me," she told Today. "I covered the Chilean miner rescue. I've gone and covered stories in Honduras. Being able to talk to people in different languages has opened up the world to opportunities for me to tell their stories."

She even credits her globetrotting with the reason that her broadcasting accent, or lack thereof, is so spot-on. Morales discussed "Broadcaster English," aka the "standard American accent," with Rachel's English. Morales said that usually comes with training, but she was fortunate. "I didn't really have an accent because I did grow up in so many different places."

Remember how we just got done saying that Natalie holds her father in high esteem? Well, that doesn't mean she isn't above giving him a little good-natured ribbing...on national TV. 

According to the Daily Mail, she made her dad the butt of a joke during a Today segment when she revealed a photo of him at her wedding and said, "My dad with the bad piece back then," apparently referencing his questionable toupee.

Her co-anchors, Willie Geist and Al Roker, lambasted her for the dig, then got Mario on the phone to defend himself. "We used to call it the 'rat rug,'" pops said, jokingly adding, "I felt that period of my life was kind of long gone and forgotten. But now Natalie resurrected it with that picture—and before a national audience." Mario also noted that despite Natalie's request that he not wear the "bad piece" to her wedding, he did so because he "did not want to make a drastic change to my appearance just before the wedding." 

Besides, it could have been worse. Mr. Morales confessed that before the toupee, he used to rock "a very bad comb over."

Aside from torturing herself on the grueling American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, Morales keeps her philanthropic plate busy with many other charitable obligations. In a profile for Bella NYC, Morales listed off her do-gooder resume, which includes working with the Muscular Dystrophy Association and with Augie's Quest, a nonprofit pursuing a cure for Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"I am also a champion for the Alzheimer's Association," she said, citing a personal connection to the cause due to the loss of her mother-in-law, who died "after a 17-year battle with early-onset Alzheimer's."

"There are some days when I work from 4 a.m. until 11 p.m. if I have charity functions," Morales told Argus Leader, while discussing yet another organization that is close to her heart–the Challenged Athletes Foundation. "They help give people with disabilities the tools to try what they want to try," Morales said, adding, "Seeing children play sports is such a confidence boost."   

In December 2016, Morales got to combine her passions—exercise and philanthropy—for a collaboration between Reebok and an organization called BOKS or Build Our Kids Success. BOKS is "a free program that provides children across the country with fun physical activities before the school day," reported Today. For the partnership, Morales helped design "limited edition" running shoes, of which Reebok agreed to donate $10 from the sale of each pair to BOKS in addition to a flat donation of $10,000.