Longtime “Today” show host Al Roker made his return to the morning show on Friday and provided new details about the “life-threatening” crisis that landed him in the hospital multiple times in the last few months.
During the 68-year-old weather personality’s first appearance back on the NBC daytime show since mid-November, Roker talked about how doctors discovered he had lost “half” of his blood from two ulcers.
“I had this internal bleeding going on. I lost half my blood,” Roker explained. “And they were trying to figure out where it was. And finally, they went in, did the surgery. I had two bleeding ulcers.”
Roker said doctors ended up having to resection his colon, take out his gallbladder, and more.
He joked he “went in for one operation [and] got four free.”
Roker’s wife Deborah Roberts was on the set too, calling her husband’s health crisis a “frightening journey.”
Checking in with #AlRoker and @DebRobertsABC about Al’s health journey and recovery. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4Mo6O0g4RF
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 6, 2023
“It’s not lost on us that this is a major, major thing for Al to be here,” Roberts shared. “He is a living, breathing miracle. He really is. And I’m not overstating it, I don’t think. Al was a very, very, very sick man and I think most people did not know that.”
Earlier in the show, Roker’s co-host made it clear they were thrilled he was back, getting emotional at times, Page Six reported.
“The tears are already flowing,” Savannah Guthrie said. “Al Roker is back. There he is.”
“Al, to say we have missed you doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she added. “It is nothing without you here.”
“The crew is weepy,” Hoda Kotb added. “The crowd outside has been waiting for you. They’ve been bummed every day we’ve walked out there. They’re like, ‘Where is Al?'”
The TV personality agreed and said, “I have missed you guys so very much. You are my second family, and it’s just great to be back. And wearing pants!”
Roker’s co-host Savannah Guthrie announced earlier this week that the weather personality was “coming back to the show” after initially being hospitalized before Thanksgiving when a blood clot in his leg “sent some clots into” his lungs, as previously reported.
The TV personality gave fans an update after his second hospitalization in December, calling it a “tough slog,” and thanked fans for all their love and support.
“Listen, it’s been a tough slog,” Roker shared. “I’m not going to deny this. It’s been the hardest one yet, and you know I’ve had my share of surgeries.”