It’s hard to believe we’ve been watching Al Roker on the Today Show for three decades. The witty weatherman joined the show in 1996 to replace the late great Willard Scott. He celebrated his Al-iversary on January 27 with lots of fun surprises, tributes, and memories. When Al started on Today, he and Deborah Roberts had just gotten married. He was raising his daughter, Courtney. He and Deborah welcomed Leila in 1998 and Nicholas in 2002. Now in 2026, Al’s a proud grandpa who loves spending time with his granddaughter, Sky. The Al-iversary had many wondering if Al Roker is ready for retirement. But don’t get the farewell party started too soon, Al’s not going anywhere.
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Al Roker Has No Plans to Retire
Ahead of the Al-iversary, Al Roker told People he’s not quite ready for retirement.
“Well, let’s put it this way. I haven’t thought about retirement,” Al said. “Somebody at NBC, that might be a different story.”
But for Al, Today keeps him up and active, something that he truly enjoys.
“I love what I do,” Al admitted. “I feel good; I love this job; I love doing it. At some point, I guess I won’t be, but I don’t feel like that’s anytime soon, so I’m just gonna keep going.”
Even though he’s not preparing for retirement quite yet, Al Roker knows it’s inevitable. He has a beautiful way of looking at his time on Today.
“I think that’s the beauty of the broadcast, is that the mission over these 74 years has not changed,” he told People. “The way we bring it to you may have, and look, the fact of the matter is we are each temporary custodians of this legacy … at some point I won’t be part of the show, somebody else will be, but to be part of a pretty cool club is very special. To say that this was a dream job isn’t really accurate because it never dawned on me that I could be on the Today show.”
This story’s featured image is by Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images.
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