The ever-popular weather-reporting anchor Al Roker has been a morning TV staple for many years now and has been a regular presence on NBC’s Today for a good number of those years. As such, anytime the Daytime Emmy winner doesn’t appear for an unexplained amount of time, viewers are going to have questions, which has definitely been the case during Roker’s latest extended absence. Now, an explanation has surfaced thanks to the man himself, though his reasoning is, unfortunately, more serious than just a pleasurable vacation.
Al Roker took to Instagram to reveal that he’s been in the hospital for an extended stint due to complications following the discovery of a blood clot. Here’s how he explained it:
So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been. Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs. After some medical whack-a-mole, I am so fortunate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and hope to see you soon. Have a great weekend, everyone.
First and foremost, it’s great to know that the Today co-anchor has had a seemingly positive experience after being hospitalized, at least as positive as one can imagine it’d be. It’s not entirely clear why he kept his hospital stay hidden from the public for as long as he did, but it’s plausible he wanted to make it through the most difficult circumstances before feeling comfortable bringing it up with his fans and followers. Blood clots are known for causing sudden health scares, so no one would blame him for staying mum until things were sorted out.
Presumably out of respect, Today’s ensemble of co-hosts haven’t said much about Al Roker being gone for the past two weeks, mainly keeping it to noting his absence. But that changed during Friday morning’s telecast, as Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, Carson Daly, and Roker’s fill-in Dylan Dreyer all shared their wishes for the meteorologist to get better quickly. (I guess they couldn’t get House of the Dragon’s Matt Smith to reprise his weather-reporting role.) Here’s how Guthrie put it:
He's in good spirits, we've all talked to him. He's in great spirits. . . . It's hard to slow down Al, but he's on the mend and he's on the way to recovery. I don't know if he watches this show, but we love you, Al. We miss you.
Carson Daly also noted that he needs Al Roker back on the set to keep inspiring him to stay in shape, with Roker’s workout videos making him feel the need to exercise more himself. It’s not clear how agile the TV vet will be when he’s back on his feet, but it’s probably good that he doesn’t have to worry about covering any more hurricanes this year.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that Al Roker has had to bow out of Today for medical reasons. He missed a couple of episodes along with other anchors in the early days of COVID due to a crew member’s positive diagnosis, and then tested positive for it himself in September 2022, which took him away from being on air. And it was in November 2020 that he revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis on the air, which was followed by a two-week break so that he could have surgery for it.
Check out Al Rocker's post in full below.
Today delivers its multi-hour telecast just about every morning of the year on NBC. While waiting to see Roker back in front of the weather screen, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
