Ill-Timed Ann Curry Interview: 'I’ve Been at 'Today' for 15 Years and I’d Love to Make it to 20'

2:05 PM PDT 6/21/2012 by Seth Abramovitch

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In a profile written before her morning show ouster, the TV newswoman says her next career might be in education, and that "it's hard not to take" criticism personally.

In a revealing, if awkwardly timed, interview in Ladies Home Journal, departing Today Show host Ann Curry expresses concern over the caliber of her performance, and says she hopes she'll "make it to 20" years at the morning show, where she's worked since 1997.

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“It’s hard not to take it personally," the anchor says in the August issue cover story. "You worry, am I not good enough? Am I not what people need? Am I asking the right questions? When people say negative things or speculate, you can’t help but feel hurt." Her comments come in response to a question about the escalating ratings war between Today and Good Morning America.

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Asked where she thinks she sees herself in the near future, Curry says, "I’ve been at Today for 15 years and I’d love to make it to 20.” Curry adds that she wants to "eventually become a teacher," so that she can "positively influence the next generation.

Asked what quality she would most like to change about herself, Curry offers, "I don't always understand my worth." She quickly qualifies to say that she wasn't speaking in the professional sense.

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"I'm talking about our personal lives," she says. "We allow people to treat us poorly, we allow our husbands or boyfriends to get away with things or we have relationships with girlfriends or colleagues who don’t treat us well. We don’t defend ourselves as we would our own children. ... We waste too much time beating ourselves up."

The casting shakeup comes a little over a year after Curry replaced Meredith Vieira as Today co-host, during which many said she demonstrated a lack of chemistry with co-host Matt Lauer. But Curry tells Ladies Home Journal it was never the network brass that she was trying to please.

"I know NBC pays my salary but I have never doubted who I work for," she says. "I think about the people who watch. They're the ones who matter to me."