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Al Roker will return to ‘Today’ on January 6 following health scare

By Stephen Iervolino Jan 3, 2023 | 10:12 AM


NBC/Helen Healey

On Tuesday’s installment of Today, the show’s hosts revealed Al Roker will be returning on Friday, January 6.

“We have some great news to share,” Savannah Guthrie said, commenting, “Our sunshine is coming back Friday morning.”

As reported, the beloved weatherman had been sidelined since the end of 2021, hospitalized twice for blood clots. The health scare forced him to miss coverage of both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree for the first time in decades.

He has since made video appearances on the chat show; in a December 12 appearance from home, Roker called his situation “a tough slog,” adding, “It’s been the hardest one yet, and you know I’ve had my share of surgeries. It gives you a profound sense of gratitude for this outpouring of prayers and thanks. I’m a very fortunate person.”

Weeks later, Guthrie, co-host Hoda Kotb, and dozens of Today staff members donned Santa hats and went caroling outside Roker’s New York City home, surprising him and leaving him in tears.

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