Who Knew Al Roker Was Such a Romeo? 'He's a Real Romantic,' Says Wife, ABC News' Deborah Roberts

After 25 years of marriage, Al Roker still loves romancing his wife Deborah Roberts.

"He does things like he sprinkles little love notes, little cards throughout my life," Roberts, 60, says of the longtime Today co-host during a recent Zoom interview for PEOPLE's first-ever Love Issue.

Jokes Roker, 66: "Who knew?"

"Who knew?" adds Roberts, ABC News' senior national affairs correspondent who reports for 20/20, Good Morning America, Nightline and ABC World News Tonight with David Muir.

For more of Al Roker and Deborah Roberts' sweet love story, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

In the mornings, "sometimes there's a little card next to the coffee maker that might say something encouraging or sweet or impish or fun," says Roberts, sitting close to the NBC weather anchor after their cover photo shoot at Manhattan's Crosby Street Hotel.

His swoon-worthy gestures aren't just reserved for home, though. "When I travel, I open my suitcase and I find one or two notes in there that he's slipped in, or in my purse. 'Have a great day. I'm thinking of you.' Or an Emily Dickinson sonnet or something," she says.

"And I'm just like, 'Oh my gosh.' It just touches me. And he thinks that way all the time. He's a real romantic," says Roberts.

Watch the full episode of The Love Issue: Al Roker and Deborah Roberts on PeopleTV.com or the PeopleTV app.

Her adoring other half expresses his love to her in other ways, which she admits she doesn't always find quite so romantic.

"He calls me a lot throughout the day," she says. "He knows it drives me crazy to call me two or three times a day. I would much prefer to download at the end of the day."

RELATED VIDEO: How Al Roker and Deborah Roberts' Love Got Them Through His Cancer Diagnosis

But that's what a good husband does, Roker explains.

"My dad used to drive a bus and at the end of each run, he'd get out and — this is obviously long before cell phones —he'd find a phone booth, and he'd call my mother," he says. "It'd be a five-minute call, whatever, just, 'How are you?'"

"So I grew up watching that," says Roker. "I thought that's what you do."

When Roberts finds herself growing frustrated with her overly communicative hubby, she says she steps back and looks at the big picture, which puts it all in perspective.

"I think about how he really is calling because he loves me and it means something to him at that moment," she says. "Maybe he's bored or maybe something happened. He needs to hear my voice and I appreciate that."

"So what I'm learning, and it's been 25 years, is to pause and say, 'Hi, sweetheart. How are you? I love you' and acknowledge that he called and that I appreciate it, but I've got to go in just a couple of minutes. 'Is there anything else that you wanted to get at?'"

"I'm getting better," she says, with a laugh.

In true Roker fashion, he quips, "Even if you're not, I'm going to say you're getting better."