It just wasn’t the same Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade without TODAY’s weatherman, Al Roker hosting the much-loved event. Roker missed the parade for the first time in 27 years due to a recent medical issue that required a trip to the hospital.
“For the past 27 parades, at this moment, we would turn to Al Roker, who’s our TODAY show colleague and our best pal, but as a lot of you have heard, Al’s recovering and he’s recovering very well from a recent medical issue,” TODAY’S Hoda said during the parade. “We just want to say, ‘We love you Al, we wonder if you’re watching, but we wish you a full recovery.'”
“We love you Al, we’ll see you next year,” Savannah added.
Later Al shared on Instagram that he was leaving the hospital and heading home for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Al wrote, “All right, this is my version of the Thanksgiving Day parade — getting ready to leave the hospital,” he says in the video while walking down a hospital hallway. “Time to blow this taco stand. Woo-hoo!”
There were many Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade viewers who shared their love for Roker on social media.
“It is not the Macy’s thanksgiving parade without Al Roker,” one fan tweeted. “Thanksgiving is cancelled.”
Another wrote, “What’s the point of the #MacysThanksgivingParade if Al Roker can’t continue the annual tradition of fighting with butter?” This message was about Al’s hilarious “feud” with a man in a butter costume at the 209 parades.
Roker explained his illness by thanking those who asked where he was. He said that last week he was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in his leg and some clots were sent to his lungs. He said he got great medical care and was on the way to recovery.
Al’s wife, Deborah Roberts, tweeted a photo of the couple together on Nov. 18 after Al shared that he was in the hospital.
“Love is the best healer @alroker,” she wrote.
We're sending lots of love to @alroker! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/o1b6vzdz2f
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 24, 2022
What’s the point of the #MacysThanksgivingParade if Al Roker can’t continue the annual tradition of fighting with butter? pic.twitter.com/Xxa1oEHMR0
— kerri*:･ﾟ✧ (@kbiskit) November 24, 2022
