Justin Sylvester nearly missed his Today With Jenna and Sheinelle guest hosting spot on Monday, March 16.
Starting Monday, Jenna Bush Hager is on spring break, leaving Sheinelle Jones with a series of famous guest hosts. Sylvester, 39, kicked off the week — but he almost didn’t make it.
“It was close. Delta, count your days,” Sylvester joked. “I was determined to be here.”
Not only did Sylvester get off a red-eye flight earlier that morning, but Jones, 47, revealed that he was also pulled over on the way to the studio.
Sylvester joked that he pulled up the Today With Jenna and Sheinelle Instagram account to prove that he was actually cohosting the show. “I dropped your name so hard,” he told Jones.
As their conversation about his run-in with the police came to an end, Sylvester dropped another hilarious bombshell.
“I gotta be honest, I told them I was Craig Melvin,” Sylvester quipped, noting that if there’s a “warrant” out for Melvin’s arrest, “just know, it wasn’t me.”
Sylvester’s appearance on Today With Jenna and Sheinelle came a mere hours after he led E!’s Oscars coverage on Sunday, March 15.
“I still cannot believe I did seven hours of live television over the span of 15 hours and I’m heading to New York,” the TV host said in an Instagram Stories video on Sunday, telling followers to watch him on the morning show.
When Sylvester finally landed in New York City, he brushed his teeth in the backseat of his car while heading to Studio 1A.
“Life of a showgirl,” Sylvester captioned the clip, which was set to Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia.”
A second clip from 8:22 a.m. revealed that Sylvester still had one hour left in his travel day before reaching 30 Rock — talk about cutting it close.
“I just gave myself a bird bath in here and my makeup’s still holding up,” he added. “If anyone calls me lazy ever in my life, I’m gonna point to this.”
The next Instagram Story was a video of Sylvester’s car being stopped by police. “You can’t make this up,” he captioned the clip.
Sylvester’s final update came during the last seven minutes of his car ride — 20 minutes before he needed to be on the air.
“I have never in my life,” he said through laughter. “I’m honestly laughing. I, at this point, think it’s hilarious.”
