Today’s Sheinelle Jones Update After Husband’s Death

Sheinelle Jones Says Her Heart Is “Shattered” After Husband Uche Ojeh’s Death

Sheinelle Jones continues to navigate a difficult chapter.

The Today host returned to work Sept. 5, four months after the death of her husband Uche Ojeh, and it wasn’t an easy transition for her or kids Kayin,16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13. 

Sheinelle, 47, shared that after months of her family rallying together to find bright spots through their grief, her husband’s absence was felt the most after they settled back into their routines.

“And then work comes, and we get through the first week of school, the first week back to work,” Sheinelle told Jenna Bush Hager during the Sept. 22 episode of Today With Jenna & Friends. “Friday, when we got home, it was tough. Because there was nothing for us to rally ourselves for.

She added, “It was just like, ‘Oh this is it. This is life.’ Kind of sucks.”

Sheinelle—who was married to Uche for 18 years—recalled just how much his absence was felt as she had to learn to navigate a big piece of her career without him.

“Saturday morning for me was tough,” she shared. “Saturday is when we look at each other and we’re like, ‘Oh my God what a week.’ It was usually like, ‘Oh my God That interview on Tuesday, I should have said this. Or what about this?’ My coach was gone. My life partner.”

Through tears, she added, “And so the days after my first week were tough because it’s like my new normal.”

Sheinelle took an extended leave from Today at the end of 2024, amid her husband’s glioblastoma diagnosis. In May, Uche died following a year-long battle with the aggressive brain cancer. He was 45. 

For Jenna, seeing her friend and cohost find strength in her tragedy was a reason to celebrate.

Sheinelle Jones/Instagram

“I’ve never met anybody stronger,” Jenna told Sheinelle elsewhere during the broadcast. “I just can’t sit here and sit back and not say this to you. Watching you over the last year has been remarkable.”

She added, “I remember sitting at his funeral, thinking—and I’ve been to, like, state funerals and such—there’s never been a more beautiful funeral. Never. And you did all that.”

Sheinelle recently recalled what life without Uche has been like, ahead of what would have marked their wedding anniversary.

“We would have been married 18 years this month,” she told cohost Savannah Guthrie in a Sept. 5 interview on Today. “And it just always felt like we had it. And when he was dying, I would say this sucks, this is scary, but if you asked me if this was going to be my fate, I would do it all over again.”

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