Al Roker has had quite a year of health scares, but this time, the weatherman was given a surprise of a better nature.
Earlier this week, colleague Carson Daly revealed some big news to Al — Al and his wife, Deborah Roberts, will be featured in an issue of People magazine.
The meteorologist had no idea this was happening and simply replied, “What?”
“You and your wife, it’s the list of 100 reasons to love America. You’re reason number 19,” Daly explained.
Al and his wife were named the number 19 reason “we love our country,” and other colleagues Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie were pleased to celebrate the news with Al.
“What kind of a country are we living in?” Roker joked before adding, “Well thank you, America. It’s mostly because of Deborah. I’ve got really nothing to do with that; I’m just hanging on for dear life.”
Al Roker’s most recent return to Today
Just over two weeks ago, Al returned to Today after his knee surgery.
The meteorologist had surgery to repair his left knee on May 9 and made his return by the end of the month to “put it to use.”
His return was also exciting for his colleagues, who were eager to greet him on the show.
“Look who’s here! Mr. Roker, we are so happy to have you back in our studio,” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie said before joking, “You’ve got a brand new knee! Does it still have that new knee smell?”
“I don’t want to go there,” Roker joked. “We’re putting it to use. … It’s all good, all good.”
“We’re so happy to have you back, Al,” added co-anchor Hoda Kotb.
“Good to see ya, good to see ya,” said Roker, clearly happy to be back on the show.
His knee surgery comes after a winter full of scarer health issues.
Al Roker opens up on life following ‘life-threatening’ health scare
In January, Al returned to Today after two months of being gone from the show due to a “life-threatening” health scare.
As previously reported by Monsters and Critics, Al was hospitalized due to blood clot complications and severe internal bleeding.
“I lost half my blood,” he recalled of the terrifying experience. “They were trying to figure out where it was.”
One operation turned into four as doctors worked hard to find out what was wrong, finally discovering that he had two bleeding ulcers, needed his gallbladder removed, and had his colon resectioned and his duodenum redone.
Fortunately, Al seems to be in good health these days and is focusing on the future.
Today airs weekdays at 7/6c on NBC.