Is Bryant Gumbel a smoker? Cancer diagnosis and more on former Today host’s health issues amid hospitalization

According to reports, veteran television journalist Bryant Gumbel has been hospitalized due to a medical emergency in New York City.

TMZ claims that the 77-year-old former Today show host was taken from his Manhattan apartment to a hospital on Monday night, where he has been staying. Though it is unknown why he was hospitalized, a family source told the outlet "he is OK."

This hospitalization has once again returned the public interest to Gumbel's prior health issues and in particular, his previous battle with lung cancer over a decade ago.

#EXCLUSIVE 🚨 Bryant Gumbel is hospitalized in NYC after the broadcasting legend was transported by an ambulance. https://t.co/vy9xcfZo4u pic.twitter.com/C44my8L7AE

— TMZ (@TMZ) October 21, 2025

Bryant Gumbel's diagnosis of lung cancer ignited a discussion where others wondered if his illness was related to smoking since his past practice of smoking was mentioned as he has publicly stated that he was a heavy smoker and stopped smoking decades before his diagnosis.

Gumbel mentioned in various interviews that he identified himself as a three-pack-a-day smoker for roughly 10 years before quitting over 30 years before his diagnosis. Health experts have stated that even well after stopping smoking, it is possible that the effects of prior long-term use of tobacco may still add to the risk of cancer.

However, multiple friends and colleagues pointed out that the tumor was elevated next to his lung, not in it, which may mean it was not related to smoking at all. However, Gumbel's was, and remains, a cautionary tale about the chronic effects of tobacco use.

Bryant Gumbel's history with lung cancer

In December of 2009, Gumbel disclosed in a live segment on Live! With Regis and Kelly that he had surgery two months earlier to remove a malignant tumor from his lung. The public learned of his diagnosis and treatment for the first time.

"It's nothing to hide from. They opened up my chest, they took a malignant tumor and they took part of my lung and they took some other goodies. And the pathology on most of the stuff had been benign," Gumbel said.

He mentioned that although most of the tissues that were eliminated were not cancerous, some aggressive cancer cells had metastasized and he needed to undergo additional treatment.

#OTD Bryant Gumbel (Sept 29, 1948). TV journalist, sportscaster. He was best known for his 15yrs as co-host of NBC's ‘Today’. From 1995 to 2023, he hosted HBO's acclaimed investigative series ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’. His older brother was the late sportscaster Greg… pic.twitter.com/C5XdSEEopS

— Jazz the Professor (@Jazzieeiswhoiam) September 30, 2025

The previous Today's show host revealed to viewers that he chose to keep it private and only shared it with his immediate family. It had been reported that his Real Sports Team at HBO was unaware of any of the process and that it was not until he got out of surgery and went back to work he shared the news.

By the end of 2010, Bryant Gumbel stated, "I’m free and clear" and told People magazine that he had had a great prognosis from the doctors. "I have very little to complain about,” he said then, expressing how confident he felt about his health.