‘Vengeful’ Matt Lauer tearing ‘Today’ apart — wants to steal staff for own show

Vindictive Matt Lauer's plans for a comeback have thrown the "Today" show into crisis mode.

Less than a year after a sleazy sex scandal got him booted from NBC’s morning jewel, newsroom insiders exclusively revealed to RadarOnline.com that Matt is focused on raiding the Today staff to launch his own show — and stab former pal Hoda Kotb in the back!

“Matt would like nothing better than to wreak havoc on the people who fired him,” squealed a source.

The horndog, 60, was shown the door in November after a string of sordid sexual harassment allegations were lobbed against him.

After Matt got the ax, the network took great pains to erase all traces of their former host — including demolishing his office.

Now Matt’s looking for payback.

As Radar exclusively revealed, Matt has been skulking around NBC’s Rockefeller Center studios and having meetings with various former producers — including Don Nash, who left Today in January — about joining his new show.

“Matt knows luring talent from ‘Today’ would throw the show into chaos,” dished a source.

“Matt is convinced that enough time has passed to put the scandal behind him and that viewers would come rushing back to him — especially if he teamed with Katie!” the source spilled.

Even better for Matt, Today has been struggling since he left — consistently finishing a poor second in the ratings behind archrival “Good Morning America.”

“The combination of Hoda and Savannah Guthrien just isn’t working,” a source spilled. “Hoda is a great daytime personality, but she’s not cutting it as a serious news anchor.

“People are used to seeing her down glasses of chardonnay with Kathie Lee on the air — not talking about potential missile attacks from North Korea.”

Ambitious Savannah engineered the recent elevation of Craig Melvinfrom “Weekend Today” to the news desk with her and Hoda, according to insiders.

“It was Savannah’s first step in pushing Hoda out,” a source spilled. “She’s had the knives out for Hoda since the ratings started to slip!”

That’s put a big smile on Matt’s face, sources said.

“Matt feels Hoda hung him out to dry when the scandal broke,” said the source. “Helping Savannah helps him get revenge on Hoda — and cause further chaos at Today.

“It would also clear the path for his return to ‘Today’ if his show doesn’t get off the ground!”