Matt Lauer and His Wife Have Reportedly Lived Apart for Years

New reports suggest just how hard Matt Lauer worked to maintain his harmless persona on-screen for the last couple of years. While Lauer is known as a straight-laced fatherly-figure and a family man, Page Six is now reporting that he has lived away from his family for almost seven years now as a result of his infidelity.

Lauer and his wife, Annette Roque, have two children, and a sprawling family home on Long Island covering more than 40 acres. However, sources have now told Page Six that Lauer himself only visits the mansion on the weekends. At least five nights a week, he stays in his Manhattan apartment on the Upper East Side. Neighbors told reporters that they can’t recall ever seeing Roque or the children visiting Lauer there.

Sources say the arrangement has been this way since 2011, shortly after Lauer returned from covering the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. They say that rumors reached Roque about Lauer’s partying and escapades while away, and she was so angry with him that they couldn’t bear to live together full time anymore.

However, even before that, Lauer and Roque have had a tenuous marriage. They came close to divorce in 2003, when stories were circulating that Lauer was having an affair with his co-worker, Natalie Morales. Roque separated from Lauer and began the process of filing for divorce. Lauer, who had been urged to settle down and maintain a “family man” appearance for the sake of the show, reportedly offered Roque $5 million to stay married. Roque withdrew the divorce papers just three weeks before their second child was born.

Anonymous sources told reporters that that wasn’t the only gift given in exchange for Roque’s continued marriage to Lauer. Some claim that several of the horses in the family stable — valued up to $100,000 — were bought by Lauer to make up for various infidelities.

Lauer was fired from NBC News on Wednesday following a complaint about sexual misconduct in the workplace. Since then, at least seven women have come forward alleging that Lauer harassed or assaulted them. NBC is conducting an internal investigation.

Photo Credit: Today Show / NBC