“Today” show co-host Sheinelle Jones is set to make her first appearance on the NBC morning show on Friday, four months after the death of her husband, and plans a “special message of hope” for her return.
The news was shared Tuesday morning by Jones’ “Today” show colleagues, Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie.
“We’ve got some other great news that we are so excited to share with you and it involves a member of our own ‘Today’ family,” Melvin told viewers, teeing up Guthrie, who confirmed, “Yes, our beloved Sheinelle will be returning to the show.”
The announcement comes a little less than four months after Jones’ co-hosts revealed during the May 23 broadcast of the “Today” show that her husband of 18 years, Uche Ojeh, had died following a brain cancer diagnosis. Five months prior to that, Jones took a leave of absence from the “Today” show to deal with what she told her Instagram followers in Jan. was a “family health matter.”
Jones has not appeared on the “Today” show since its Dec. 18, 2024 broadcast. She will make her long-awaited return Friday with a pre-taped interview she already conducted with Guthrie, in which she spoke publicly for the first time about the loss of her husband.
“She and her family have been through so much,” Guthrie told viewers Tuesday about Jones’ life over the past many months. “We recently sat down together. We shared a really personal conversation, talking about how she has carried on and found the strength these past few months.”
“She has thoughts on grief that are so touching,” Guthrie continued. “She’s got a special message of hope too for anyone facing their own struggles, and we will share that with you. And we cannot wait to welcome Sheinelle home, right where she belongs, right here in our studio, Studio 1A on Friday.”
In May, Jones reshared the clip of her “Today” show colleagues announcing her husband’s death and told her followers, “Thank you, for all of your love and support.” Prior to his death, Jones and Ojeh were married for nearly 20 years and had three children together: 15-year-old Kayin and 12-year-old twins Clara and Uche.
“A week doesn’t go by where we’re not checking in, seeing how she’s doing,” “Today” show co-host Dylan Dreyer told Entertainment Tonight in May about Jones. “We pray for her all the time, we can’t wait for her to come back, so we’re just waiting for that day to come.”
