Al Roker breaks silence on mysterious Today show absence after abruptly leaving mid-broadcast

Al Roker has broken his silence on his mysterious Today show absence, after the longtime weatherman sparked concern by abruptly leaving mid-broadcast.

On Monday morning, Roker, 72, suddenly disappeared from Today in the middle of the episode, with his co-star Dylan Dreyer stepping in to take over. 

‘We have Dylan taking over for Al, who had to leave a little bit early,’ Savannah Guthrie told viewers.

Dreyer added: ‘Yeah, a little switcheroo again this morning,’ before she went on to give the weather report.

Roker was also noticeably missing from Today’s third hour.

Craig Melvin shared a cryptic comment about his absence, stating: ‘Al had to step out for just a little bit. He’ll be back tomorrow.’ 

His unexplained disappearance left viewers uneasy, with one frantically posting on X: ‘I hope he’s okay.’

But it turns out, Roker had a very relatable reason for his sudden departure.

He took to Instagram hours later to share an update with his fans, explaining that he actually stepped away because he had jury duty.

‘Well, I got out of the Today show early because I’ve got jury duty. It’s everyone’s civic duty,’ he said in a short clip.

It showed him standing outside of a courthouse in New York City dressed in a suit and hat. 

He added in a comment later that he ultimately got a postponement until December when his work schedule will slow down. 

‘To update you, I got a postponement ’til December when work is a little less crazy,’ he wrote. 

‘But I LOVE jury duty. I know I am fortunate that my company pays me while I’m serving in a jury. 

‘Not everyone has that luxury. Doing your civic duty should NOT be a hardship.’

Roker has faced various health scares over the years.

In 2022, he suffered from blood clots and internal bleeding. He ultimately underwent a nearly seven-hour emergency surgery to treat two bleeding ulcers. Doctors had to resection his colon, remove his gallbladder and fix a tear in his duodenum, the first part of the small intestine that connects to the stomach. 

And in September 2020, he was diagnosed with aggressive, localized prostate cancer at age 66.

Thankfully, it was caught early and he underwent a successful robotic radical prostatectomy that November to remove his prostate, surrounding tissue and lymph nodes.

The TV star also had a life-changing gastric bypass in 2001, which resulted in him shrinking from 340lbs to 190lbs.

In 2023, he dropped a further 45lbs thanks to keeping a low-carb diet, and since then, he has successfully maintained his weight loss.

He’s now very outspoken about his passion for staying in shape, and often posts videos of himself in the gym online.

Roker champions an early morning workout and likes to hit the gym before going over to work at Rockefeller Center’s Studio 1A. 

His motto is ‘something is better than nothing,’ even if that means just doing a quick 10-minute weight routine before hitting the treadmill for 20 minutes. 

Roker’s strength training routine targets both the upper and lower body and includes triceps dips, goblet squats, bicep curls, calf raises and step-ups. 

He’s also detailed his commitment to walking 10,000 steps every single day. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail previously, he said that he even wakes up extra early to make sure he’s well on his way to achieving his target.

‘I try not to go haywire. I just like to work things in,’ he said. ‘That’s why I like to walk. You can walk to other things to go do stuff.

‘I mean, I was running a little behind, but normally, I would have taken a walk to the subway. I would have walked to the subway from home and walked over here.’