Published Jan 27, 2026, 6:55 PM EST
Based in Los Angeles, Mona began her entertainment career in 2015, building experience across digital media and journalism. She has worked with major entertainment brands including iHeartMedia, E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and TMZ/TooFab, contributing to interviews, source development, and editorial production. Her writing even helped her team earn an Emmy Award at Entertainment Tonight. She has been an Entertainment & People News Reporter at ScreenRant since 2026.
Fret not Today fans, Al Roker is here to stay.
In an interview with People, ahead of his 30th anniversary on the NBC morning show, Roker revealed his plans for retirement, and how much longer the 71-year-old meteorologist sees himself manning the news desk.
Well, let's put it this way. I haven't thought about retirement. Somebody at NBC, that might be a different story.
The longtime journalist and weatherman said he's just as passionate about his work now as he was when he replaced the late Willard Scott on the show back in 1996, joining a group of already iconic faces that included Katie Couric, Ann Curry, and the since-disgraced Matt Lauer. And despite health setbacks, including a 2020 prostate cancer diagnosis — now in remission — and a life-threatening medical crisis in 2022 that sent him to the hospital with blood clots in his lungs, internal bleeding, and a 7-hour surgery for bowel resection and gallbladder removal, Roker said he's feeling good.
I love what I do. I feel good. I love this job. I love doing it. At some point I guess I won't be, but I don't feel like that's anytime soon, so I'm just gonna keep going.
While Roker is one of the most recognizable faces on Today, in his interview with People, he acknowledged that the show is very much about the collective — a team that includes the likes of Carson Daly, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and more.
“ think that’s the beauty of the broadcast is that the mission over these 74 years has not changed. The way we bring it to you may have, and look, the fact of the matter is we are each temporary custodians of this legacy … at some point I won't be part of the show, somebody else will be, but to be part of a pretty cool club is very special. To say that this was a dream job isn't really accurate because it never dawned on me that I could be on the Today show.
And though Roker has had many memorable moments during his three decades on the show, the pinch-me moment came 10 years ago while on assignment in California, when he got the chance to interview Don Rickles, Betty White, Carl Reiner, and Dick Van Dyke — all in a 24-hour period.
And it was like, wow, I'm a kid from Queens out doing this.
Another special moment, Roker recalled, was during the 2013 inauguration of President Barak Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
[Obama] acknowledged when I asked him about the weather and then Vice President Biden runs up and shakes my hand. It was the day of the inaugural but it also happened to be a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. I'm thinking my parents are looking down and going, 'Our son was acknowledged by the President of the United States and had his hand shaken by the Vice President.' Like I said, for a kid from Queens, that’s some pretty heavy stuff.
As for the legacy Roker is hoping to leave behind when he makes his eventual departure from Today, he told People that he wants viewers to walk away feeling "better than they did before," after watching one of his broadcasts.
People, when they watch, that they didn't feel like I wasted their time. And that hopefully they felt better after watching than before.
Viewers can catch Al Roker on Today, weekdays starting at 7 a.m. EST.
Birthdate August 20, 1954
English (US) ·