Sheinelle Jones Announced as Jenna Bush Hager’s Permanent Co-Host; Meet the ‘Today’ Show Favorite
NBC officially announced Sheinelle Jones as co-host for the 10 am block of TODAY alongside Jenna Bush Hager. The declaration ends a nearly year-long period where the fourth hour had no permanent co-host after Hoda Kotb’s departure. Jones’ authenticity, warmth, and chemistry with Hager made the longtime Today contributor a strong candidate for the role. Now, viewers want to know more about Jones.
Sheinelle Jones has strong ties to Philadelphia, Chicago, and Wichita, Kansas
Although Sheinelle Jones was born on April 19, 1978, in Philadelphia — her dad, C. Darnell Jones II, was a senior U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — she grew up in Wichita, Kansas. While attending Wichita Heights High School with her four brothers and sisters, reports Yahoo, Sheinelle landed an internship at local CBS-affiliate station KWCH-TV. This early exposure to journalism likely sparked her interest in broadcasting.
Sheinelle grew up in a family that valued both discipline and creativity/education, fostered by her mother Sheila Kinnard’s drama-teaching background. This may have helped her develop both confidence and empathy — qualities visible in her work as a journalist and host.
Sheinelle attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. She studied journalism, focusing on Broadcast Journalism and Spanish, and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a historically Black sorority.
Sheinelle and her husband have three children together
Sheinelle first met her husband, Uche Ojeh, in the late ’90s while they both attended Northwestern. A freshman at the time, Sheinelle offered to show a “cute” Uche around campus while he visited as a high school senior, as she told Northwestern Magazine. “I was a fake tour guide … I was just walking to class,” Sheinelle laughed. They dated for several years before marrying in 2007 in Philadelphia.
Uche worked as a consultant for big firms such as IBM and Accenture before becoming a managing partner at UAO Consulting. He cherished his cultural heritage, embracing and sharing his Nigerian background with his family. The Ojeh-Jones family sometimes wears traditional Nigerian clothing together.
Together, Sheinelle and Uche have three children: a son, Kayin Ojeh (born in 2009), and fraternal twins, including a son, also named Uche, and a daughter, Clara (born in 2012). In 2015, Sheinelle wrote an essay for Today.com about parenting three kids. In it, she explained, “I try to show them that they’re all a team, and they have to take care of each other. At the same time, I’m learning that they each like to know they’re special on their own. They will often come to me for individual affirmation and then head back into the ‘group’ ready to play as a team.”
Sheinelle lost her husband, Uche, to an aggressive cancer in 2025
Some time around 2023, Uche was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a particularly serious and aggressive form of brain cancer. He and Sheinelle kept his cancer battle largely private until late 2024, when Sheinelle stepped away from her work to care for him and their children. She described the period as heart-wrenching, but remained by his side — often calling their last months together a “beautiful nightmare.”
On May 23, 2025, Uche died at the age of 45. The announcement was made on the show by her co-hosts, who expressed condolences and shared memories of him being “an incredible person” and a devoted father who attended his children’s soccer games, concerts, and recitals.
In interviews since his death, Sheinelle has spoken about the depth of her grief. The 47-year-old said “the life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more.” Still, she has also talked about the importance of “fighting for joy,” for her own sake and for her children’s.
Sheinelle’s journalism career and personal growth led her to ‘Today With Jenna & Sheinelle’
Sheinelle’s first broadcast job was in Springfield, Illinois. She worked for the FOX affiliates in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Philadelphia before joining Today in 2014. After several years with the Weekend Today team, Sheinelle moved to co-host the third hour of Today in 2019. Working six days a week took a toll on the young professional. Sheinelle took a six-week leave in 2020 to remove lesions from her vocal cords before returning to work.
After Kotb’s exit from Today, the fourth hour featured a rotating cast of about 60 different guests in an 11-month interim. Among industry chatter, Sheinelle was regarded as a front-runner. Insiders cited her deep familiarity with the Today format, her broadcasting experience, and her rapport with audiences as strong reasons. Some fans voiced support online for Sheinelle to become the permanent co-host.
While the guest-host experiment lasted nearly a year, there was always a growing case internally and publicly for Sheinelle, which ultimately carried the day. For the seasoned reporter, this marks the culmination of years spent reporting, connecting with viewers, and building a life shaped by resilience, purpose, and compassion.
