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Al Roker Holding Hoda Kotb's Daughters' Hands Backstage on TODAY Is Too Precious

Should we call the longtime anchor and host Uncle Al?

By Elizabeth Logan

TODAY co-anchor Al Roker shared a sweet backstage moment with Hoda and Jenna host Hoda Kotb's two daughters, Haley and Hope, but blink and you may miss it.

Al Roker looks so fatherly with Hoda Kotb's daughters Hope and Haley

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It's just a split-second moment, but in the video below posted to TODAY's Instagram, you can see Roker and the girls in silhouette from behind. Roker is holding hands with both Hope and Haley, waving to their mom who is at the desk.

Both girls wear pink skirts and puffer jackets, and were in the building for Take Your Kid To Work Day on April 25. In pictures taken on set, the girls pose happily with Kotb and Roker, but clearly want to stick close to their mom. So cute.

On air, Hoda and Jenna's Jenna Bush Hager asked older daughter Haley, "Who’s the boss, me or Mommy?” According to AOL, Haley responded, "You," meaning Bush Hager,

“Are you positive? Because you know you live with me. You don’t live with Jenna,” Kotb pressed, which netted Haley a sleepover invite from Bush Hager.

RELATED: Hoda Kotb's Daughter Doing Her Mom's Job on TODAY Is the Absolute Sweetes

Kotb has found so much love with Haley Joy and Hope Catherine

Kotb adopted her two daughters with ex Joel Schiffman. While on TODAY in 2022, Kotb opened up about the positive aspects of becoming a mom at an older age. “I see all the good parts about being an older mom. Like, I'm in my own skin, I know who I am, I've got much more patience and love and all that stuff,” she said. 

Kotb adopted Haley as a newborn in 2017, and welcomed sibling Hope in 2019; Kotb was even present for Hope's birth. Though they may not be siblings by genetics, Kotb revealed that they are, truly, sisters. "It is as if they share the same blood. The same everything. [Hope] and Haley, they are intertwined. They hold hands. They don't let go,” Kotb revealed on People’s Me Becoming Mom podcast.

RELATED: Hoda Kotb's Kids: All About Her Daughters, Haley and Hope

Kotb published a children’s book titled Hope Is a Rainbow inspired by her youngest daughter, telling TODAY.com “My daughter, Hope, is so inspiring to me. She’s a little child, but with a real kind of old spirit, an old soul. There’s something about her in how she sees magic in everything,” she said. “She’s taught me that resilience comes in all kinds of packages and that kids are incredibly strong. She’s also taught me to find wonder in the smallest things.”