Al Roker Surprises His ‘Today’ Co-Anchors With Early Return Following Knee Surgery

Al Roker surprised his Today co-anchors, this week, by making an early return to the show following his recent knee surgery. On Thursday, the 68-year-old weatherman appeared in a live segment, much to the joy and surprise of Today anchors Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones, and Craig Melvin. “What’s up, brother? Good to see you,” Melvin exclaimed, then adding, “We weren’t expecting that – clearly!”

Offering an update on his health, Roker shared, “I am doing fine. It is good to see all of you. I’m going to be honest. I’ve had a number of replacements, knee replacements. It’s not a big surprise. This one has been the toughest one yet because they had to take out the old one, which had some complications, and then put in a new one.” Earlier this month, Roker appeared virtually on the show, and explained, “This one is a little more complicated because it’s what they call a revision; it was a replacement of a replacement, so they had to take stuff out, put stuff in, so it was a bit of a bear. So we’ve just been kind of hanging out. Chilling out, not doing anything – which I know, a lot of people find hard to believe, but in fact, that is the case.”

This was not the first time Roker had had to take a leave of absence from the Today show, due to some health problems, lately. Back in early November, the beloved meteorologist was hospitalized for blood clots in his legs and lungs. “Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs,” Roker wrote in a Nov. 18 Instagram post. After being treated, he was released to spend Thanksgiving with his family but had to be transported back to the hospital on Friday, Nov. 25.

Speaking to Page Six, a source familiar with the situation said, “Al was taken from his home in a stretcher back to the hospital on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. His condition was worrying, but once back in the hospital, he improved.” They added, “His wife, Deborah [Roberts], was understandably very upset.” The source went on to share that Roberts — an ABC News journalist — “had left her phone and other possessions inside their Tesla, which had malfunctioned and wouldn’t unlock, so she was trying to smash in a window.” 

The insider stated that Roberts was “unsuccessful” in her attempt to get inside the electric car. “Deborah then went to the hospital by taxi with her daughter, where Al has since been surrounded by his family.” Notably, Roker’s health issues caused him to miss both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Thankfully, Roker appears to be doing much better.