TODAY co-host Al Roker has a sweet birthday message for his "cousin," Carson Daly.
"Cousin, Carson. Today’s 50 is nothing like our fathers' 50. Those beautiful kids keep you young and of the moment while you stay in the moment," the weather forecaster said of his fellow TODAY co-host and his four children, Jackson, 14, Etta, 10, London, 8, and Goldie, 3.
"Your loving wife, Siri, has your back and you two keep each other feeling young. And when you think this is the halfway point in your life, you’re wrong," Al continued, forever the jokester. "Your life is more than half over, so enjoy whatever you have left."
Carson Daly turns 50 on June 22 — a milestone the MTV "Total Request Live" alum marked earlier this year when he received a membership offer from the AARP, an interest group that focuses on issues that impact people who are 50 and older.
"I gotta big bday next month and S*** JUST GOT REAL!" Carson captioned an Instagram post, along with a photo of his AARP "notification of member benefits."
Yes, a card was included.
Carson and Al, 68, share a special relationship, both on and off the air. Carson often lovingly refers to his TODAY co-host as "uncle Al," and in 2018 shared a heartwarming Facebook post celebrating Al's 40 year tenure at NBC News.
"Congrats Uncle Al on 40 incredible years at NBC News," Carson wrote. "You’re an American icon. Sorry I couldn’t be there (on the TODAY Show) this am. Great trip down memory lane. Rock on! Happy #ALiversary!"
Carson also gave Al and his wife of more than 25 years, Deborah Roberts, a shout-out during a recent PopStart segment.
“Mr. Roker and his better half Deborah Roberts, the happy couple, just landed on an issue of People magazine.”
Al appeared surprised, prompting Carson to call out his reaction.
"You look surprised over there!" Carson said. "You and your wife, it’s the list of 100 reasons to love America. You‘re reason number 19."
Of course, the love is mutual between the TODAY co-hosts. Al consistently calls Carson's PopStart segment the "best time of the morning" every day, and has gone out of his way to keep an eye on his young colleague.
In 2020, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when people were living in lockdown, Carson pretended to shave his head.
Al, who proudly sports the bald look, called Carson as soon as he saw the "TRL" alum's Instagram post, showing the TODAY co-host flaunting his new, albeit fake, lockdown look.
"My home phone hasn’t rung in six years, and it rang for a whole hour,” Carson said.
While his bald look wasn't real, Carson said he wouldn't rule out completely shaving his head in the future — because of Al, of course.
"Now I feel like because of Uncle Al, and I have lots of bald friends, I feel like I’ve let them down now,’’ he said at the time. “I still want to say bald is beautiful.”
Happy birthday, Carson! There's an awful lot of TODAY love in the room.
