The nation’s beloved weatherman is now taking on a new role. Al Roker is going to be a grandpa!
Yet another pregnancy announcement arrives this year, this time from Al Roker’s daughter, Courtney Roker. She took to Instagram to share the news. “A new adventure is about to begin ❤️🍼,” she captioned under a post of herself and husband Wesley Laga. In the clip, Courtney shared photos of her and Laga to the tune of Mariah Carey’s Always Be My Baby before the song changed to an acoustic version by Brent Morgan then displayed a sonogram.
Roker shared his excitement in a comment under the post. “Here we go!!!” he commented. “So very very happy!!!!! You guys.” His wife, Deborah Roberts shared her excitement as well. “This is so very exciting!!! 😍😍” she commented.
When speaking to Today.com, Courtney shared how blessed she felt about her pregnancy. “We are extremely excited to welcome a new member into our family and start this next chapter in our lives,” she gushed.
Al Roker spoke about the expected addition to the family Wednesday morning on the Today Show. “For this grandchild, I’m gonna be the best grandpa ever,” he exclaimed. “Because I’m gonna do whatever I can to spoil this kid and then hand her back.”
Although he referred to the baby as “her,” he would not reveal its gender. He did, however, share that he will be following family traditions by having the baby call him Pop-Pop. “That was my dad’s name for all his grandkids,” he explained to his colleagues as they toasted to him with champagne. The crew also gave him onesies with the Today show logo on them.
Roker Family’s Past Year
The good news comes as the Roker family is recouping after a very tumultuous past year. In November of 2022, Al Roker was hospitalized for blood clot complications and internal bleeding. As a result, the on air personality had to miss the broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in 27 years.
He took a 2-month hiatus from the show to have 4 surgeries including his colon resectioned, his gallbladder removed and the duodenum in his small intestine redone. He returned to the Today Show in January. “I lost half my blood. [My doctors] were trying to figure out where it was,” he explained on the show when he returned. “I really do feel good. I’m sure I’m going to collapse like a stone after this is over because this is the first work I’ve done. It’s been a journey.”