Al Roker celebrated his 70th birthday with fellow Today hosts, including Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones, and shared the important lessons he learned during his health journey.
Al Roker has a lot to celebrate in his neck of the woods.
The Today weatherman of nearly three decades had an extra special 70th birthday week, with help from his fellow hosts, Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones. And as he kicked off a new year with delicious barbecue from his favorite chefs, celebrity cameos and a variety of iconic fedoras, Al shared a moving message about what he has learned from his health journey over the past few years.
“When you have a health issue, whether it’s you or a loved one, you realize you can’t take anything for granted,” Al, who was hospitalized multiple times in 2022, said in an exclusive interview with E! News. “So it does focus you—kind of a laser focus on your health and your family’s health and everybody around you—but you appreciate every day a little bit more.”
And while he has become a bit more health conscious, his well-known love for barbecue and pie never wavered.
“I don’t trust people who don’t eat pie,” he joked. “But that said, I modified things a little bit. It’s everything in moderation.”
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To kick off his birthday week, Al’s wife of 28 years, Deborah Roberts, brought all three of his children—Courtney, Leila and Nick—together to throw him a surprise party complete with a performance from his favorite band, Earth, Wind & Fire.
“It was really epic. Unbelievably epic. Everybody that I wanted with me was there,” Al shared, reflecting on just how much he cherished having his kids reunite for the celebration. “When you see them come back together as adults, it’s like they really appreciate each other.”
But the celebrations didn’t end after the party. During a full morning dedicated to the birthday boy on Today, Mayor Eric Adams presented Al with a very special gift—a key to the city—which was a full circle moment since Al’s father was a bus driver for the city.
“I grew up here,” Al added. “My whole thing was to get back to New York, not because it was New York City, but because it was my hometown, so that my mother could turn on the TV and see me. Because we always do stuff at the end of the day to impress our parents.”
And Al’s co-hosts of the 3rd Hour of Today, Craig and Sheinelle, couldn’t help but gush about their favorite memories with him over the years. After all, Al considers them the “Avengers of morning TV.”
“People rave about the kind of guy he is on TV and his longevity, and he’s helped build this place, but it’s the guy you don’t see who’s really just a living, breathing example,” Craig told E!. “And not the broadcaster you want to be, just the kind of man you want to be, the kind of father, the kind of husband. It’s a sight to behold. I don’t know how he does it.”
As for Craig, he is preparing to host his third annual Bottoms Up Invitational, beginning on September 15, to honor his brother, Lawrence Meadows and to benefit the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
“We did a lot when he was alive to get more folks screened, to raise money for research, to encourage folks to just talk to their doctors and talk to their families about their family history,” he explained, “so we started that while he was alive. When it became apparent that he was not going to survive, he wanted to make sure that I continue to work within my alliance and really make this one of my life’s callings.”
The event will feature a Sunday concert followed by some, in the words of Craig, “mediocre golf the following Monday morning.”
“It’s just not a sexy cancer,” he continued. “And so one of the things that we’ve also worked to do is demystify it and really encourage conversations surrounding it.”
From Under the Weather to On the Mend! What We Know About Al Roker’s Health Problems
Al Roker is back at work and doing well over a year after his medical absence in 2022.
The beloved weatherman returned to TV on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, after an extended absence for medical reasons beginning in fall 2022, and he revealed in late March 2023
The TV personality missed his first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 27 years after being hospitalized for blood clots. Thankfully, Roker left the hospital in time to have Thanksgiving dinner at home, but was admitted again at the end of November for “unspecified reasons,” according to TODAY, and missed the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree on Nov. 30, 2022.
While Roker told his co-workers on the TODAY show that he’s “got a number of issues,” he shared, “I feel good, I feel strong, and every day I feel a little bit better.”
Here is everything we know about Al Roker’s health.
Why was Al Roker in the hospital?
Roker revealed on Nov. 18, 2022, that he had recently been admitted to the hospital “with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs.”
In a post on Instagram he wrote, “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.”
In the months since the hospitalization, Roker has shared just how many complicating factors were at play.
“I had two complicating things. I had blood clots that they think came up after I had COVID in September and then I had this internal bleeding going on,” he shared. “I lost half my blood. They were trying to figure out where it was. And finally they went in, did this surgery. I had two bleeding ulcers. They had to resection the colon, take out my gal bladder. I went in for one operation, I got four free, so I got that going for me.”
What is Al Roker’s illness?
Roker was hospitalized for blood clots in November 2022. He has since recovered.
What is wrong with Al Roker?
The You Look So Much Better in Person: True Stories of Absurdity and Success author has been recovering after being hospitalized for blood clots in November 2022. According to Page Six, Roker was taken back to the hospital via ambulance the day after he was first released on Thanksgiving. One witness told the outlet, “Al was taken from his home in a stretcher back to the hospital on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. His condition was worrying, but once back in the hospital, he improved.”
As of Jan. 6, 2023, Roker had a clean bill of health and was back on TV, but he took another leave in May 2023 for a knee replacement.
“Thank you all so much for being so concerned about him and so interested in his well-being” Rokers’ wife Roberts said in a Sunday, May 21, 2023, video. “As many of you know he had a knee re-replacement, so a knee that had been replaced many many years ago had problems and had to be re-replaced. It makes it slow-going, it makes it a little tougher. It was a harder surgery, so it’s a little bit harder to snap back from but he’s doing pretty well, moving a little slowly.”
Does Al Roker have blood clots?
Roker was first admitted to the hospital in November 2022 with a blood clot in his leg, which he revealed sent “some clots” into his lungs. He has since recovered.
Where is Al Roker on TODAY?
Roker was absent from the NBC program due to his health scare in late 2022 and early January 2023. Speaking to his TODAY colleagues about why he hasn’t come back to the show just yet, he said: “You lose a certain amount of muscle mass for every week you’re in the hospital, and I was in the hospital for four weeks.”
The dad of three added, “It’s just a certain amount of weakness. I’m doing physical therapy every day, occupational therapy. I’ve got to just get my strength back.”
Roker was back on TODAY beginning Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, but was absent for much of May following a knee replacement.
“Al is chomping at the bit to try to get back to work, but the doctor just wants him to take it slowly so that he can continue to heal well,” Roberts said on May 21, 2023. “So on Al’s behalf and our family’s behalf thank you so much and I’m sure he’ll be popping up soon … He’s trying to obey the doctor’s orders so that he can get back to work and to play as soon as possible, so just wanted to give you a little update on him.”
Where has Al Roker been?
Roker was recovering at home from a knee replacement that he underwent in early May 2023. In a May 15 virtual appearance on TODAY, Roker told his colleagues, “This [knee replacement] is a little more complicated because it’s what they call a revision—it was a replacement of a replacement, so they had to take stuff out, put stuff in, so it was a bit of a bear. So we’ve just been kind of hanging out. Chilling out, not doing anything—which I know, a lot of people find hard to believe, but in fact, that is the case.”
From November 2022 to January 2023, Roker was recovering from blood clots at home. On Dec. 8, 2022, the weatherman announced that he was back at home following his second hospital stint.
“Home! So incredibly grateful to family, friends, medical folks, @todayshow family and all your thoughts and prayers,” he wrote on Instagram.
Is Al Roker sick?
Roker is fully recovered after being hospitalized for blood clots in November 2022. In May 2023, he underwent a successful knee replacement surgery.
In 2020, Roker revealed that he was battling prostate cancer and underwent surgery to have his prostate removed.
Is there an update on Al Roker?
Roberts revealed on May 21, 2023, that Roker’s knee replacement surgery recovery went well, but slowly, explaining that he was icing and elevating his knee and taking it easy, then would undergo several months of physical therapy.
What type of knee replacement did Al Roker have?
In May 2023, Roker underwent surgery to replace “a replacement” left knee. This is called a “knee revision” surgery. Because most knee replacements last 20 years, his revision wasn’t a surprise, having had his first knee replacement in his 40s.
How is Al Roker doing after knee replacement?
Roker is totally better and back at work!
Who operated on Al Roker’s knee?
David J. Mayman, MD, hip and knee surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, performed Roker’s knee revision surgery in 2023.
How many knee surgeries did Al Roker have?
Roker has had three knee surgeries so far. He had a right knee replacement, a left knee replacement and a revision knee surgery for his left knee.
At 70, Al Roker Maintains Weight Loss With This Simple Trick
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Al Roker shared a weight loss maintenance tip that he practices at the dinner table.
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It’s a simple trick that helps him and his family eat mindfully.
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“I guess what I’ve come to [realize with] my relationship with food, which has happened over a period of time, is that I’ve learned about portions,” he said.
Weight loss has been a decades-long journey for Al Roker, and those years have given him plenty of maintenance tips and tricks. He recently shared one that he and his wife turn to regularly. It takes place at the dinner table, but has little to do with food.
While promoting his new cookbook, Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By, the 70-year-old told The Daily Mailthat he and his wife, Deborah Roberts, have a strict no phones at the dinner table rule. “They get left in a basket and that’s that,” he said. The parameter has multiple perks—it pushes personal connection and conversation, and, Roker said it keeps him eating mindfully, which means he’s more aware of his portions and satiety.
Roker said he thinks social media makes it “more difficult” for people to have a healthy relationship with food because “when it comes to food, it’s very hard to multitask,” he explained. “So, you could finish a plate of food reading and not realize that you ate.”
The same goes for aimlessly snacking and scrolling on the couch or in bed. “Everybody’s on their phones and doom scrolling and eating or having snacks and so I think the trick is to try to be more present,” he added.
In 2002, Roker underwent gastric bypass surgery and has since slowly changed his lifestyle. “I guess what I’ve come to [realize with] my relationship with food, which has happened over a period of time, is that I’ve learned about portions,” he explained. “The problem had been for a long time, for me, it’d be one thing if you stopped at a scoop of Häagen-Dazs, but no, we finished the pint! That’s where you get in trouble!”
Roker also shared his thoughts on weight loss drugs like Ozempic. As someone who lost weight with the help of medical intervention, he encourages people to follow their own path as long as it’s a safe one. “I’m not gonna judge anybody,” he said. “If this is what works for them, I mean, who are we to say, ‘Oh, don’t do that.’ As long as it’s safe and effective, good for you. I think everybody’s journey is their journey.”
And Roker’s personal one has been a rollercoaster. But, because of his persistence, at 70, he feels “better than [he has] in years.”
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