Why Hoda Kotb and Al Roker Were Both Missing From ‘The Today Show’

Hoda Kotb and Al Roker

Four of the Today show anchors were noticeably absent from this morning's broadcast, including Hoda Kotb and Al Roker.

"Sheinelle [Jones] and Jacob [Soboroff] are here. Hoda and Craig [Melvin] are getting a little jump on the weekend,” Savannah Guthrie shared shortly after the Friday, May 3, episode of the NBC morning show kicked off, as transcribed by Us Weekly. 

Also missing from the first two hours of the Today show was Carson Daly and, of course, Roker, whose “Popstart” and weather segments were covered by Soboroff, 41, and Dylan Dreyer.

This appears to be part of a larger trend started by the co-stars, as just last week, Guthrie abruptly left the show as it was still taping on Friday, April 26. She was also absent from the broadcast four days prior, on Monday.

“Savannah left a little early today to get her weekend started,” Kotb told the audience at the time. It was later revealed that Guthrie was preparing for her appearance at the White House Correspondents dinner.

Those missing from the show on Friday were also tied up with their weekend plans, as evidenced by social media.

Kotb, 59, isn't even in New York City at the moment. She uploaded clips of Mick Jagger on stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to her Instagram page. "Happening now!" she captioned the first snap.

Kotb later shared more videos of The Rolling Stones performing at the 2024 jazz fest, as well as a selfie from the pit.

Roker appeared to have much more relaxed plans for the impending weekend as he tried encouraging his social media followers to get active while speedwalking on a treadmill. "C'mon, @starttoday_ family! Let's #boogiedown and get those steps in as we get ready for #friyay #goknicks," he captioned the energetic clip.

Melvin revealed on Thursday that he has plans to travel to New Jersey for a stop on his children’s book tour on Monday, May 6. “I would love to see you there,” he said in a May 2 Instagram video.

Daly, however, didn't detail his plans for the first weekend in May–though we hope it's just as enthralling as the rest of his coworkers'!

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