Al Roker teases retirement after Hoda Kotbs shocking Today departure

Al Roker knows he’ll one day say goodbye to the “Today” show like his colleague Hoda Kotb — but don’t expect him to walk away anytime soon.America’s beloved weatherman, 70, who’s been on the NBC show since 1996, addressed his inevitable retirement just days after Kotb, 60, announced her departure after 26 years.

“You know when you know,” Roker told People at the first Food & Wine Classic festival in Charleston, South Carolina.“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.”While he knows the “time will come” for him to hang up his fedora, it’s not happening yet.“I don’t feel like that’s my time yet, but who knows.Maybe a year or two.

Maybe not, but I’m enjoying it.I love this,” Roker shared.

“You don’t get off the train until the last stop.”Kotb tearfully announced her “Today” departure while surrounded by her colleagues Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones last week.“I had my kiddos later in life and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have.

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,” she said, crying.“I’m gonna be here through the first of the year — past the first of the year — and I’m gonna stay in the NBC family, but it’s kind of a big deal for me.”Roker shared his excitement for Kotb’s next chapter with her children, Hope, 7, and Haley, 5, telling People he’s “just so thrilled for her that I can’t possibly feel any sadness.“I would feel much worse if she was leaving, but she’s just doing something else within our NBC News family,” he explained.

“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...