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Al Roker's Emotional Return to TODAY After Hospitalization
Al Roker has a low chance of inactivity in his forecast.
As the veteran weatherman continues to celebrate his 30th anniversary at Today, he shared his thoughts on retiring from the NBC morning show in the future.
“Well, let’s put it this way. I haven’t thought about retirement,” Al told People in an interview published Jan. 27. “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.”
Indeed, the 71-year-old—who shares kids Courtney, 36, with late ex-wife Alice Bell, as well as Leila, 27, and Nick, 23, with Deborah Roberts—has been on an iconic run since becoming Today’s weather reporter in 1996. And while the show has gone through several changes over the years, he’s thankful his role is still a reliable segment that viewers can watch.
“I think that’s the beauty of the broadcast is that the mission over these 74 years has not changed,” Al explained. “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.”
He continued, “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.”
However, Al eventually learned to drown out that skepticism. After all, his colleagues Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones and more have consistently reminded him of how important his whimsy—and knowledge of climatology, of course—has been to the show’s evolution.
And true to their love for him, his co-anchors dedicated a sweet tribute to Al during Today’s Jan. 27 episode, highlighting his greatest moments in a nearly eight-minute video.
“He’s not just one of the faces of the Today show, but he’s a global ambassador,” Craig expressed, while Carson Daly described his storied career as “an incredible milestone.”
As for how Al embraced this heartfelt present?
“My family here means so much to me. I think about my parents, too. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Allen and Isabel Roker,” he expressed, before nodding towards the camera. “And all of you. It’s just been an honor.”
Keep reading to see more touching moments from the Today show…
Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
Sheinelle Jones
The cohost of the fourth hour of Today shares son Kayin as well as twins Uche and Clara with her late husband Uche Ojeh, who passed away in May 2025 after a courageous battle with brain cancer.
“With all three of my children, I try to show them that they're ALL a team, and they have to take care of each other," Sheinelle wrote in a 2015 essay for Today. “At the same time, I'm learning that they each like to know they're special on their own."
Craig Melvin / Instagram
Craig Melvin
Three years after the anchor married fellow broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak in 2011, he earned his most cherished title yet: father.
And now, he seizes every opportunity to gush about their son Delano and daughter Sybil.
"When I wake up in the morning," Melvin said to his son during a May 2024 episode of Today, "part of the reason I work so hard is for you and your sister."
Jenna Bush Hager / Instagram
Jenna Bush Hager
The Today with Jenna & Sheinelle cohost and her husband Henry Hager are proud parents to kids Mila, Poppy and Hal.
As she put it during a March 2025 episode of the morning show, “I’m pretty sure I’ve come to terms that three, even though it’s an imperfect number, it’s the perfect number for our household."
Hoda Kotb
"Another Halloween in the books," wrote the former host as she celebrated the day with her daughter Haley Joy.
She is also mom to daughter Hope Catherine.
Lester Holt / Instagram
Lester Holt
The former NBC Nightly News anchor shares sons Stefan Holt and Cameron Holt with his wife Carol Hagen.
But more recently, he became a proud "granddude" to three grandchildren: Henry, Samuel and James.
“When my daughter-in-law was pregnant with her first baby ... she said, ‘Well, what do you guys want to be called?’" Holt said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021. "I said, ‘I think I want to be ‘Granddude’ because ‘grand,’ it bows to the fact that I’m older. But ‘dude’ says, ‘I still got a little bit. I still got a little,’ you know?"
Carson Daly
In 2020, the anchor and his wife Siri Pinter welcomed their fourth child, Goldie. The little one joined the couple's older kids Jackson, Etta and London.
Steve Mack/Getty Images
Kathie Lee
Hoda's former cohost is a loving mommy to her own two children, Cassidy Gifford and Cody Gifford, with her late husband Frank Gifford.
Savannah Guthrie
The TV personality is a mom to two little ones, Vale Guthrie Feldman and Charles "Charley" Max Feldman, with her husband Mike Feldman.
Noam Galai/WireImage
Al Roker
The anchor and his wife Deborah Roberts are parents to Leila Roker and Nicholas Albert Roker.
Paul Zimmerman/WireImage
Willie Geist
The anchor of Sunday Today has been married to his wife Christina Geist since 2003. They're parents to two children, George William Geist and Lucie Joy Geist.
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