It’s been over eight years since Meredith Vieira left the Today show, but in 2017, after her former co-host Matt Lauer was fired for allegations of sexual misconduct, Vieira was quickly forced to contend with her former job.

Learning the news of Lauer’s firing “was like a gut punch,” Vieira, 65, recalls to PEOPLE. “I was [in L.A.] and my phone started going off at 4 a.m. I didn’t know what to make of all of it. It was a shock.”