Robin Roberts and Gayle King might be on competing morning programs, but they had no problem getting together to celebrate their friend from another competing network, Al Roker.
Al, 69, has appeared on NBC since the late 1970s and NBC’s Today full-time since 1996.
He recently traveled to Paris, France, to help cover the 2024 Summer Olympics with various Today co-stars, correspondents Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, and others.
The Olympics have ended, and the Today stars have returned to New York City. Recently, a significant celebration occurred ahead of Al’s upcoming birthday.
He’ll officially turn 70 on August 20, but family and friends gather to celebrate the milestone occasion on Saturday.
The NBC Today star shared a collection of images from the event, which featured Roberts and King from competing morning shows.
Robin Roberts and Gayle King among Al’s guests at his surprise birthday bash
Al shared photos from his surprise birthday party at City Winery NYC on Instagram. According to Al’s caption, his wife, Debra Roberts, arranged the event, which even included a performance from the iconic band Earth, Wind, & Fire.
“Still processing the early #surpriseparty @debrobertsabc threw for me celebrating my 70th birthday with family and friends. I’m much more comfortable being the one giving the party than being on the receiving end. This was overwhelmingly amazing and it’s still sinking in,” Al said regarding the surprise party.
His first image featured Al and his family, including his wife, with drinks in hand at the winery. A second image features Earth, Wind, & Fire members posing with Al and his family.
Photos from the band’s performance ensue, along with a picture of Al’s Today co-stars Savannah and Craig Melvin partying it up from the audience.
In the ninth slide of Al’s carousel post, he’s smiling with his wife, Debra. They’re also with Debra’s ABC colleague Robin Robin Roberts from Good Morning America and CBS Mornings star Gayle King.
His final slide of the post shows boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts with Al’s face on a circular logo.
“Tomorrow’s forecast? Cloudy with a chance of donuts!” the text says around Al’s image.
“Let the birthday countdown begin for @alroker We love and appreciate you so much that we simply had to begin celebrating early!! Let’s keep dancing into the next week and into your new decade,” Debra told her husband in a post featuring several additional pictures from the party.
GMA’s Robin Roberts shared another party guest’s photo from the event on her Instagram Story. The image shows her partying in the crowd along with Al and his wife, presumably during Earth, Wind, & Fire’s performance.
“Ohhhh, what a night!” she wrote under the photo.
Al Today’s co-stars talked about birthday bash and ‘other networks’
During NBC’s Today, a segment focused on Al’s recent surprise birthday party. Melvin, joined by Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones, talked about several milestone birthdays for Today.
“This guy, Mr. Roker? He’s turning 70. He’s like, Hoda, hold my beer,” Craig joked.
“His wife, Debra Roberts, pulled off one epic surprise over the weekend,” Craig said.
Today presented a still photo of Al from the event with co-stars Savannah, Hoda, Sheinelle, and Craig. Dylan said she couldn’t attend the event due to work in Los Angeles, California, and a “big family vacation” in Turks & Caicos.
Melvin called Al’s birthday celebration the “party of the year,” mentioning that Earth, Wind & Fire performed, one of his favorite bands.
“It’s not easy getting all of us together on an evening night,” Dylan joked.
“And the other networks, too,” Sheinelle said, with Al adding, “Gayle and Robin.”
Sheinelle remembered celebrating other Today co-stars’ milestone birthdays, including Craig’s 40th and Savannah’s 50th.
In addition to Al celebrating his milestone birthday, Hoda recently turned 60. Her Today stars celebrated the occasion with some partying and a toast during a recent episode of NBC’s morning program.