Sheinelle Jones Makes Emotional Return to ‘Today’ After Husband Uche Ojeh’s Death

Sheinelle Jones made her return to Today on Friday, September 5, nearly four months after the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh.

Before appearing in Today‘s Studio 1A, the show aired a prerecorded interview Sheinelle did with Savannah Guthrie “over the summer.” When asked how she’s doing, Jones stated, “In this moment, I’m okay. Day to day, I’m okay. From a macropicture, how I’m doing? My heart is shattered. My heart is shattered in a million pieces. The life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more.”

Jones and Ojeh met as students at Northwestern University and tied the knot in 2007. The couple welcomed three kids together — son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13. “I’ve always wanted kids, and I have three kids of my own now, and they’ve lost their dad, and I’m their mom. It sucks,” she continued, adding that she’s “proud” of herself and her kids for how they’ve dealt with the tragedy.

Jones said she “found beauty in the nightmare” that was Ojeh’s battle with brain cancer, adding, “It is a nightmare to watch a 45-year-old do two triathlons and live and breathe off of soccer and his kids. To take a guy like that and watch him have to deal with this fight was a nightmare. But the way he fought it and the way we rallied together and the way we saw the best of humanity, that was beautiful. So, it’s my beautiful nightmare.”

Jones went on to reveal that she learned of her husband’s brain cancer diagnosis shortly before she ran the New York City Marathon in November 2023, and would join Ojeh at chemotherapy treatments after appearing on Today in the mornings.

NBC

Jones said she decided to take a leave of absence from December 2024 when she “didn’t know what tomorrow would bring,” as she wanted to be there for her husband during his fight against cancer.

“When he was dying, I would say, ‘This sucks and it’s scary.’ But if you asked me, this was gonna be my fate, I would do it all over again,” she said through tears.

Jones told Guthrie that her and Ojeh’s faith kept them both going through their family’s difficult time. “I think, ‘Okay, if Uche can have faith when his life is on the line, surely I can, and surely we all can,'” she shared.

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Jones said she was inspired to return to Today to inspire others dealing with their loved ones’ struggles with cancer. “What I know to be true is I see you, and I’m part of this club, but cancer doesn’t have to steal our joy,” she told viewers in the video package. She added, “I feel like Uche’s heartbeat lives on in mine, so I owe it to him to squeeze the most out of this thing.”

Jones reunited with her Today family in the studio after the interview package, explaining that she chose not to reveal her husband’s cancer battle publicly because he was “fiercely private” and asked her to keep it under wraps.

She called hospice workers “Earth angels” and thanked her Today family for supporting her through it all. “You guys have been my oxygen. 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.”

One month after stepping back from Today, Jones announced via Instagram in January that she was dealing with a “family health matter.” Her Today colleagues announced that Ojeh died at the age of 45 as a result of glioblastoma on May 23.

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