Matt Lauer Is 'Fighting to Save' His Marriage with Annette Roque, Source Says

Matt Lauer is hopeful that he and his wife, Annette Roque, can reconcile.

In the wake of his shocking firing from the Today show at the end of November, Lauer, 59, and Roque, who have been married for 19 years and share three children together — sons Jack, 16, and Thijs, 11, and daughter Romy, 14 — are still under one roof and together but are no longer wearing their wedding rings.

But a source tells PEOPLE that Lauer “is fighting to save the marriage. He doesn’t want a divorce. Both of them, their first thought is their children.”

Although the couple is working through the strain in their marriage, they don’t want to disrupt the lives of their three children, who are in school.

A second insider who knows the couple says that former model Roque is “angry, so she took off her ring. She wanted him to take off his ring, too.”

“The kids are noticing this, but they’re being very open about this and explaining everything,” the insider adds.

Lauer was fired by NBC News after the network received a “detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior,” with reason to believe “this may not have been an isolated incident. Women have also anonymously accused him of sexual harassment and assault in reports published by Variety and The New York Times. In a statement read on-air Nov. 30 by his former co-hosts, Lauer said, “There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions.”

“He is weak and broken and ashamed by his own admission,” one of Lauer’s former Today show colleagues previously told PEOPLE.

Following his dismissal, several insiders have told PEOPLE that the veteran morning host was allegedly often unfaithful to Roque, whom he wed in 1998 after meeting on a blind date.

Roque briefly filed for divorce in 2006. In court documents obtained by the National Enquirer, Roque claimed Lauer committed “cruel and inhumane” acts against her, demonstrating “extreme anger and hostility” that endangered her mental and physical wellbeing, as well as repeatedly criticized her parenting skills. Roque withdrew the court papers three weeks after filing them.

While the couple is currently attempting to work through their differences, “no long-term decisions have been made” about the future of their marriage, the first source says. “They’re still taking it day by day.”