Al Roker is getting candid about his health scare in late 2022.
The Today show anchor and meteorologist, 70, was hospitalized with blood clots in his legs and lungs in November that year, forcing him to miss NBC’s coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in 27 years.
After briefly returning home, Roker was rushed to the hospital again in December 2022 with internal bleeding due to ulcers. During emergency surgery, doctors resected his colon and removed his gall bladder.
“My doctor said if I had not been in the shape I had been, I would most likely not be here today,” Roker admitted in an interview with People published on Tuesday, June 3.
The TV star’s wife, Deborah Roberts, also shared with the outlet how touch-and-go her husband’s situation was.
“It was frightening beyond belief,” Roberts, an ABC News correspondent, said. “It’s the toughest thing we’ve ever endured as a family and a couple.”
After being treated, Roker returned to Today in January 2023. “I lost half my blood. [My doctors] were trying to figure out where it was,” he said during his first broadcast back. “I really do feel good. I’m sure I’m going to collapse like a stone after this is over because this is the first work I’ve done. It’s been a journey.”
Roker also opened up about how he watches his weight. In 2002, the journalist underwent gastric bypass surgery after his weight ballooned to over 300 pounds.
“There’s no magic bullet,” he told People, noting that surgery and weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic are a “means,” but “not the end.”
“You’re still going to have to put in the work,” he said, noting that he runs on the treadmill every day and does 10 minutes of weight training. “Sometimes you have to push yourself to do the things you need to do,” he said.
Roker also said he weighs himself every day. “I think it keeps you more grounded,” he explained, though he stressed he isn’t worried if his weight fluctuates day-to-day.
““No one’s perfect — you’re going to screw up. Lord knows I have. But you just gotta say, ‘That was then. And now we’re here. What are we gonna do now?’” Roker shared. “You have to have that chat with yourself.”
