Al Roker Reveals If He Plans to Retire Following Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Exit: ‘Maybe a Year or 2’

With news of Hoda Kotb’s Today exit shaking up the broadcasting industry, Al Roker reflected on whether or not he plans on retiring any time soon.

“You know when you know,” he said of the possibility of retiring in an interview with People published on Monday, September 30.

“That was the kind of the beautiful thing for Hoda. You even look at … Joe Biden. It’s like, everybody has a reason that they decide it’s time to go,” the weathercaster said.

Al turned 70 in August and knows that eventually “that time will come” for him to make the decision to leave the show. However, it does not look like that time is now.

“I don’t feel like that’s my time yet, but who knows,” he admitted while speaking with the outlet. “Maybe a year or two. Maybe not, but I’m enjoying it. I love this. You don’t get off the train until the last stop.”

For Hoda, the decision to leave Today stemmed from wanting to spend more time with her two daughters, Haley and Hope. The little ones, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman, are her pride and joy.

“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she said in her September 26 announcement while breaking down in tears. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

“I have never known anybody like you,” Al told Hoda after she made the emotional announcement on-air. “I’ve known you forever, and I love you.”

Al completely understands where Hoda is coming from as she gears up to start her next chapter.

“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while — Am I truly ready? But, my 60th birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift,” Hoda said in a letter to staffers. “Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited.”

While he is sad to see her leave the long-running talk show, he is glad that she will still remain part of the NBC family.

“I would feel much worse if she was leaving, but she’s just doing something else within our NBC News family,” the meteorologist told People.

Al is a dad to daughter Courtney, whom he shares with first wife Alice Bell, and kids Leila and Nicholas with his current wife, Deborah Roberts. He is big on making memories with family and spending as much time with them as possible, just like Hoda.

“And look, I’m very fortunate in that I’ve watched my kids grow up. Especially when Courtney was younger, I was in local news, so I was home in the morning with my kids. But she’s got two young daughters, Haley and Hope … Those moments, those kids grow up. I mean, it’s cliché, but because it’s true. It’s like you blink,” he concluded. “So I understand exactly why she did it.”