Craig Melvin is serving as a pillar of support for Sheinelle Jones as she returns to business as usual on Today.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am about her return to the show,” Melvin shared in a recent interview with Parade. “And not just because she is just part of the heart and soul of the place. And her smile just has always a brightened [studio] 1A.”
Melvin noted that returning to the NBC morning show would “help her return to a sense of normalcy,” adding, “It’s going to help her kids, I think, as well. And I was telling someone a couple of days ago in our line of work — Oftentimes, the place needs us, [but] we need the place, and she needs the place right now.”
Jones had previously been absent from Today since December 2024, explaining via Instagram the following month that she was dealing with a “family health matter.” On the show’s May 23 episode, Jones’ Today colleagues announced that her husband, Uche Ojeh, had died at the age of 45 following a private battle with the brain cancer glioblastoma. (Jones and Ojeh shared three kids — son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13.)
“I just told her yesterday, naturally, there’s some anxiety about coming back and what that’s going to be like for her, emotionally, mentally,” Melvin continued. “But I told her, and I’m going to keep telling her this because she needs to hear it. She has been like Atlas in her family for the past two years. She’s put the kids, the work, her sick husband, she’s put it all on her shoulders, and I think now, you know, she’s going to be able to share some of that burden with friends and family.”
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Ojeh’s absence will be felt at the Bottoms Up golf tournament later this month, which Melvin hosts annually with his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, to raise funds for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. “He played with my team last year,” Melvin told the outlet. “[Uche] played with us, and, by the way, like, even with pretty late-stage brain cancer, the guy could crush a golf ball!”
He added, “And then two years ago, he played with us, and we were sitting in the clubhouse after the tournament, and he was joking around with me and my family. Like, they’re part of our family. Sheinelle’s mom texts my mom, and so, what they’ve been through, it’s been a gut punch, and not on a professional level, but on a personal level.”
Jones made her official return to Today on Friday, September 5. “You guys have been my oxygen,” she told her fellow hosts. “And you guys at home, all the messages and prayers and I’m so thankful. This is my dream, and I didn’t know how I would feel Today. But walking through 30 Rock — I felt humbled by it, and I’m honored that we took this much time for me to be able to share our love story. And so, here I am.”
Jones kicked off her first full week back on Today on Monday, September 8, and filled in for Carson Daly on Wednesday, September 10.
Today, Weekdays, 7 a.m. ET, NBC
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