Key Takeaways
- Al Roker enthusiastically backed Today co-anchor Craig Melvin in People’s “Hotter Than Your First Cup of Coffee” poll, declaring the race “not even close.”
- Roker argued that Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan “shouldn’t even count” because his Fox NFL Sunday duties keep him off the ABC show on Mondays.
- The playful rivalry also spilled over to CBS Mornings, where Gayle King and Nate Burleson celebrated fellow nominee Vladimir Duthiers.
Al Roker has chosen his candidate in People’s Sexiest Man Alive Readers’ Choice Poll—and apparently, winning requires throwing Michael Strahan under the bus.
During the Oct. 2 episode of Today, Roker launched an enthusiastic on-air campaign for co-anchor Craig Melvin, who is competing in the “Hotter Than Your First Cup of Coffee” category. Melvin faces CBS Mornings anchor Vladimir Duthiers and ABC personalities Gio Benitez and Strahan, but Roker didn’t exactly present the race as close.
“Look at that, that’s not even close,” Roker said as photos of the four nominees appeared onscreen. “It’s unfair to the other three.”
Saturday Today anchor Laura Jarrett attempted to keep the conversation civil, reminding Roker that supporting Melvin did not require tearing down the competition.
“We don’t have to shade the other three,” Jarrett said.
“Oh, yes we do!” Roker fired back. “We absolutely do.”
The 72-year-old weather anchor then challenged whether Strahan should even count as a full-time member of the morning-show field. In addition to co-hosting Good Morning America, Strahan appears on Fox NFL Sunday, a job that regularly takes him away from the ABC program at the beginning of the week.
“And by the way, no offense, but Strahan shouldn’t even count because he’s not there on Mondays because he’s doing football,” Roker said as Melvin laughed through the endorsement.
Roker’s aggressive campaigning came two days after Melvin’s Today colleagues treated his nomination as an invitation to roast him. Roker claimed Melvin’s wife, sports broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak, had already weighed in on the category.
“Lindsay sent me the iced coffee because she said you’re not much hotter than this,” Roker joked.
Savannah Guthrie piled on while offering her own version of an endorsement. “Alright, sexy!” she told Melvin. “If you want to feel warm and cozy throughout the fall and winter, just grab Craig. He’s hot!”
The friendly morning-show rivalry has spread beyond NBC. Over at CBS Mornings, Gayle King joked that “money was exchanged” to secure Duthiers’ place in the poll, then assured him he had made the ballot legitimately.
Roker, meanwhile, has spent much of his own milestone year as the subject of Today’s on-air celebrations. He marked his 72nd birthday in August with a bacon bouquet—an especially fitting gift for the longtime bacon enthusiast, whose birthday falls on National Bacon Lover’s Day.
After watching Roker dig into the arrangement, Melvin warned him, “You eat all that, you’re not going to make it to 73.”
