in 2002, roker underwent gastric bypass surgery to lose weight, which he said he did after failing at numerous diets. eight months after the surgery, the new york "daily news" reported he had dropped from his figure. in 2013, roker made headlines after he admitted in a nationally televised interview that he had defecated in his pants during a visit to the white house, a side-effect of his gastric bypass surgery. roker wrote about his battle with weight loss in "never goin' back: winning the weight loss battle for good", published in 2013.