ABC News’ Deborah Roberts and NBC News’ Al Roker have been busy promoting their new book. We caught up with the, ahem, media power couple but we had an important question before discussing Been There, Done That. Does Roberts get concerned when the Today show sends her husband on borderline-dangerous assignments such as Rokerthon and Rokerthon 2?
“Oh gosh, yeah [I get nervous]. Not just nervous, I was opposed to it in the beginning. I said, ‘Al, are you crazy?’”
Roker joked that she came around when she realized what his life insurance policy paid out.
“That’s not true,” Roberts responded before her husband interrupted by joking, “It could be the best thing that happens to her and Dylan Dreyer.”
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“He is what’s weird about it, because Al gets so excited about these things. He sometimes fails to tell me about them. Last time when he did the 36 hours or whatever it was on the air, he just sort of mentioned it in passing like, ‘I might do this thing, you know, whatever.’ They next thing I knew he was on the phone with somebody blurting out all the details and I said, ‘What? What? Have you had a doctor check you out? Do you know what you’re doing? I really had to flog him a little to make sure he was safe,” Roberts said. “He did and he was great. This year, low and behold, he does the same thing. He pulls the same stunt again.”
Roker chimed in, “A different stunt.”
“A similar stunt. And I found out again when he was on the phone with somebody,” Roberts said. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I’m happy at the end, I embrace him. But, of course, like any smart wife I’m always cautious when he decides to embark on these crazy things. It’s not like Al is 22.”
Roberts continued, “I know he has the stamina and wherewithal to want to do all this stuff but I was sort of nervous, too. Let’s face it. He’s a dad. He’s my spouse. 50 states in a week? Crazy.”