Al Roker, 'TODAY:' Responds To 'Popped My Pants' 'Dateline' Interview Comment
Al Roker over-shared an embarrassing incident during his "Dateline" interview on Sunday, Jan. 6.
In an interview to promote his recently released memoir, "Never Goin' Back: My Weight Loss Journey," Roker confessed that he "pooped" in his pants during a visit to the White House.
Roker, 58, sat down with correspondent Nancy Snyderman to discuss his struggles with weight loss and the gastric bypass surgery he underwent in 2002. He lost more than 100 pounds as a result of the surgery and as he was explaining the side effects, he recalled a memorable visit to the White House about a month after the procedure.
"When you have a bypass and your bowel has been reconstructed, you think you're pretty safe," Roker explained. "I probably went off and ate something I wasn't supposed to."
He revealed that while walking to the White House press room, he thought he had to "pass a little gas here, only a little something extra came out."
"You pooped in your pants," replied Snyderman.
"I pooped my pants," confirmed Roker. "Not horribly, but enough that I knew."
"Which is a common side effect of this surgery," Snyderman responded, to which Roker followed with "Exactly. So, I was panicking."
Roker then confessed that he went with the only option he had at the moment so he could no longer embarrass himself - he remained at the White House sans underwear.
"So I got to the restroom of the press room, threw out the underwear and just went commando," he said. "It told me that I've gotta be very vigilant as to what I eat," he said.
Video of the interview went viral after it was posted on TMZ on Monday, Jan. 7. Roker commented on how popular his comment- "I popped my pants"- had become on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
On "TODAY" he said was "amazed" that the interview had become "such a big deal," but that he merely "wanted people to realize that there are consequences to gastric bypass surgery ... some of them embarrassing, others can be life threatening or fatal."
He also criticized press coverage on websites, stating that the topic has garnered more attention than his book, which has been out for over a week now.
Watch the video below where Roker confessed that he pooped in his pants at the White House in 2002.
