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"Matt Lauer has remained relatively quiet about his allegedly frosty relationship with ousted TODAY show co-anchor Ann Curry, but he has plenty to say about his other colleagues. Speaking to Howard Stern on the comedian&amp;apos;s Sirius XM radio show on Wednesday, June 19, the NBC standout dished on his relationships with former co-hosts Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira.\r\n&amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s like the St. Pauli Girl commercial: You always remember your first,&amp;quot; Lauer quipped of Couric, who was his co-anchor from 1994 to 2006, when she left for CBS Evening News.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;Was it always easy? No...We worked together for 10 years. Was every day a bed of roses? No, of course not,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;We had our moments where there was probably tension, but overall, we are very much the same person. We have very similar senses of humor, and I thought we had a good and easy chemistry.&amp;quot;\r\nCouric agrees. In her own interview with Stern in May, the Katie host confessed to having a &amp;quot;little crush&amp;quot; on her former co-host when he was the news anchor at NBC&amp;apos;s New York City affiliate WNBC. Asked whether he was surprised to hear that, Lauer joked, &amp;quot;No, she writes me Mahler letters all the time.&amp;quot; (Composer Gustav Mahler was famous for penning adoring, fervent notes to his much-younger wife.)\r\n\r\nSo was the feeling mutual? &amp;quot;I think...every man in America was attracted [to Katie Couric],&amp;quot; he teased. &amp;quot;She&amp;apos;s a very attractive woman, not only physically, but her personality...if she&amp;apos;s a 9 or 10 physically, she&amp;apos;s a 14 because -- I hate to do that -- because she&amp;apos;s got a great personality. She&amp;apos;s fun.&amp;quot;\r\nThat said, Lauer insists he never seriously considered pursuing anything romantic with her. It &amp;quot;absolutely&amp;quot; would have ruined things, he explained. Then, joking, he added, &amp;quot;She would have been knocking on my door constantly. She would have never left me alone.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nHis relationship with Couric&amp;apos;s replacement, Meredith Vieira, was very different, he told Stern. &amp;quot;I had a relationship with Meredith where I constantly wanted to hug her,&amp;quot; he said.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;We loved Meredith,&amp;quot; he clarified. &amp;quot;She was beloved by everyone on staff.&amp;quot;\r\nLauer didn&amp;apos;t express affection just for his female co-hosts, though. Responding to Stern&amp;apos;s assessment of Al Roker as a &amp;quot;jolly guy&amp;quot; who &amp;quot;doesn&amp;apos;t understand [Matt&amp;apos;s] pressures,&amp;quot; the TODAY anchor said, &amp;quot;I think you underestimate Al&amp;apos;s impact on the show.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;He&amp;apos;s a key player. There&amp;apos;s no question,&amp;quot; Lauer stressed. &amp;quot;Al does a lot. He co-hosts the 9:00 hour. He is the key to making the outdoor part of the studio work...Without Al, it&amp;apos;s a window. When Al goes out there, he invigorates the crowd...He&amp;apos;s a very human, important part of the show.&amp;quot;\r\nStern planned to ask Lauer about Curry, too, but he ran out of time before he could. &amp;quot;I was just getting warmed up,&amp;quot; the Sirius XM host said after the interview. &amp;quot;I had many things...I didn&amp;apos;t even get up to the Ann Curry bulls--t.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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