Matt Lauer’s Wife Ditches Wedding Ring, Receives Consoling Hug From Friend

Annette Roque was seen out and about twice on Wednesday following a week of seclusion after her husband, former Today Show host Matt Lauer was fired for sexual misconduct allegations.

The former model hadn’t left her Long Island home since the news broke on Nov. 29. But nearly a week later, she was spotting stepping out without her wedding ring.

Roque paid a visit to her friend Muriel Brandolini earlier today in Hamptons Bay, New York. The two spent some time together, and Brandolini offered Roque a consoling hug when they parted ways. Brandolini is the interior designer who worked on Roque and Lauer’s estate in the Hamptons, an estimated $18 million property.

The two met back in the ’90s, when Roque was still modelling actively. At the time, Brandolini was a photo stylist. They became fast friends, and reporters on the scene say Roque seemed sullen as she said farewell to her friend this afternoon.

Earlier this morning, Roque was seen in public for the first time since the wave of allegations against her husband began. She dropped her children off at school and ran a few errands, all without her wedding ring on. Lauer himself was seen around town this morning too, also missing his ring, though he had been wearing it on Monday.

Roque’s father talked to reporters at Daily Mail today as well, saying that the couple was going to split up.

“She is not going to stay with him and work it out,” Lauer’s father-in-law said from his home in Amsterdam. “They are not together trying to work it out.”

There have been many reports that Lauer and Roque have been living apart for quite some time now anyway. Some sources say that Lauer has been staying in his Manhattan apartment at least five nights a week ever since Roque filed for divorce back in 2006, while she stays with the kids on Long Island. Lauer is rumored to have paid Roque $5 million to drop the divorce filings, which she ultimately did.