Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty
Al Rokerishome from the hospitalafter gettingblood clots in his leg and lungs— and hisTodayshow colleagues couldn’t be happier!
On Friday’s episode of the NBC morning show, co-anchorsSavannah GuthrieandHoda Kotbcelebrated the news of Roker’s return, cheering the longtime weatherman on alongsideCarson Daly,Sheinelle JonesandDylan Dreyer.
“We’ve been waiting to say this,” Kotb, 58, said, sharing the “great, great news” as the panel broke into applause.
“By the way, we’re playing his song,” Guthrie, 50, said, as the theme to the 1983 songThe A-Teambegan playing. “He loves [this song]. Every morning we hear it coming from his office. So we’re playing it for you, Al this morning. Yes, turn it up!”
Roker, 68,revealed on Instagram Thursday night that he was out of the hospital, sharing a series of photos of himself with wife Deborah Roberts, 62, and their daughter Leila, 24, in his family’s kitchen. “Home!” he wrote. “So incredibly grateful to family, friends, medical folks,@todayshowfamily and all your thoughts and prayers.”
“Look at those cuties,” Guthrie noted Friday, as images from Roker’s post cycled through. “It’s been a long road.”
Daly, 49, then went on to share a story about Roker, explaining that he had texted him yesterday after noticing how Kotb had started commandeering Roker’s office.
“By the way, Carson, he sent me that picture!” Kotb laughed, noting how Roker has texted “something like, ‘Oh, my work wife is taking over my closet.”
“I love that he is joking in texts,” Dreyer, 41, shared.
TheTodayteam then noted how “everybody has been asking about” Roker, including many of the viewers who line up outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza to watch the show each morning.
“We have so many signs, like, ‘We miss you Al,’ ‘We love you Al’ " noted Guthrie. “We feel the same and he’ll be back soon. We want him to take his time and feel good, which he will. But we love him and he’ll be back soon.”
Roker has been a staple onTodayas the program’s premiere weather anchor since 1996, though made appearances as a substitute weathercaster from 1990 to 1995, filling in for the lateWillard Scottbefore his semiretirement.
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In the process, Roker missed theMacy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade— his first in 27 years — andWednesay’s annual Christmas Tree Lightingat Rockefeller Center.
While he’s been absent from viewers screens,Todayhas been providing frequent updates on his condition. They even includeda sweet shout-out to him in their 2022 digital holiday card.
“Al and his family want everybody to know how grateful they are for all the love, the support and the well wishes,” Kotb said on air earlier this month, Craig Melvin telling Roker, “We’ll see you back here soon, my friend.”
Todayairs weekdays (beginning at 7 a.m. ET) on NBC.
source: people.com
