Where Is Al Roker on The TODAY show? He Finally Returned To The Show After Difficult Knee Surgery

The TODAY show isn’t the same without our favorite weatherman. Where is Al Roker and when is he coming back? Keep reading to learn everything we know about Roker’s latest surgery.

Al Roker is the weatherman on NBC’s TODAY show and the co-anchor of the 3rd Hour of TODAY. He’s earned 14 Emmy awards throughout his impressive 40-year career on TV. Beloved by millions of viewers, he entertains over 30 million viewers per week and has been a staple in American households for decades. On the 3rd Hour of TODAY, Roker presents lifestyle segments that inform and entertain Americans every weekday morning. In addition to his TV appearances, he also appears on Off The Rails on TODAY show Radio, Channel 108 on SiriusXM.

In January 2023, Roker returned to NBC after a two-month absence due to a serious medical crisis “that included dangerous blood clots in his legs and internal bleeding,” NBC News reported. When Roker came back to NBC, Lester Holt spoke with Roker about his recovery. “It really is one of those things where you realize how fortunate you are. You could feel the love, you could feel the prayers, the well wishes. Because this was a tough go,” Roker explained to Holt. “And my family, starting off with my wife Deborah, really helped me through this. But, everybody else was helping hold us up as well.”

Holt mentioned to Roker that his doctor called it a “life-threatening experience” and they were “extraordinarily concerned about you,” but Roker admitted that he had no idea it was that serious. “No, I had no idea. Ignorance is bliss… I think maybe I had known how bad it was, I might have been a little different,” Roker added.

So, months after Roker’s much-anticipated return to NBC, the weatherman is gone again. Where is Al Roker on the TODAY show and when is he coming back? Keep reading to find out.

Where was Al Roker on the TODAY show? 

Where was Al Roker on the TODAY show? Al Roker had knee surgery earlier in May and was absent from the morning show for a few weeks to recover. This was his second knee replacement in just over a year (his first was in April 2022). His wife, ABC News Senior National Affairs correspondent Deborah Roberts, gave an update about her husband’s condition on May 21, 2023. Roberts thanked fans in an Instagram Live post for their support and shared information about Roker, who has recently endured serious medical issues. He missed several weeks of work in 2022 after he had blood clots in his lungs and leg.

“Thank you all so much for being so concerned about him and so interested in his well-being,” Roberts stated. “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. And it makes it slow-going. It makes it a little tougher.” His wife added that Roker’s operation 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. In fact, he’s right here on the other side of me, but he’s not interested in getting involved today.”

Roberts continued: “He wants to just say thank you to everybody who has asked about him. Thank you all so much. You have all been so kind and so generous and just so caring and compassionate about my family over these last several months as we’ve gone through a few things.” 

When is Al Roker coming back to the TODAY show?

When is Al Roker coming back to the TODAY show? Roker returned to the TODAY show on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, after Memorial Day weekend. “Look who’s here! Mr. Roker, we are so happy to have you back in our studio,” Savannah Guthrie, the TODAY co-anchor, said, jokingly adding: “You’ve got a brand new knee! Does it still have that new knee smell?” Hoda Kotb, the show’s other co-anchor, also welcomed the beloved weatherman back: “We’re so happy to have you back, Al.”

During Roberts’ Instagram post during his recovery, she said that Roker was “chomping at the bit to try to get back to work.” “Some of you may have seen him cooking,” Roberts said, referring to Roker’s Instagram Live last week, where we saw the NBC anchor in the kitchen cooking a March Stewart code cake recipe. “I did not like that he’s been trying to do that because he needed to give himself some time and some rest and elevate his leg and ice it and all of that, so he’s doing all that.”

In the comments of Roker’s Instagram Live, fans sent Roker well wishes. “Al, you are so awesome! Glad to see you are doing so well after knee replacement,” one person commented. Another user was impressed with Roker’s status one-week post-surgery. “Look at you up cooking one week post surgery. I’m having a knee replacement June 27th and I want to be just like you!”

Roberts concluded the video but adding that her husband is “trying to obey the doctor’s orders so that he can get back to work and to play as soon as possible.” We’ll likely have to wait a bit longer to see Al Roker back on the TODAY show – but we know that he’ll be excited to return as soon as he receives the okay from his doctor.

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