By Michaela Gordoni
Sheinelle Jones, TODAY’s new fourth-hour co-host opened up about the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh, who passed away from brain cancer in May.
“I don’t even think I understood fully what it would feel like to not have him,” Jones told PEOPLE. “It’s the life after where you really feel the loss.”
“My kids lost their dad at 13 and 16,” said Jones, “but I try to tell them they got more in those years than some people get in a lifetime.”
She said she is “fighting for joy.”
Now, she just started her new hour as on JENNA & SHEINELLE on Jan. 12. She’s been on the network since 2019.
“People see me on TV and they think ‘Oh, she’s better.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, no no. I’m not better.’ Every day, it’s like swimming through mud,” described Jones, who returned to the network in September 2025.
“I’ve had to really do the work,” she said. “Empathy is my superpower now, and I recognize that I hold two things: I hold my grief, and I also hold this joy.”
She feels like she’s got friends, and especially Jenna Bush Hager, to rely on.
Related: Sheinelle Jones to Return to TODAY SHOW Four Months After Husband’s Death
“Jenna and I look at each other and we’re safe. If I fall, she’s going to pick me up and vice versa,” Jones said. “If I told you the depth of my groans and tears just months ago to one of the best days of my life here today, you couldn’t even write it.”
“I’m witnessing Sheinelle do this so effortlessly, and I know it’s not. I know it’s actually really hard… ” said Bush Hager. “And she’s really such a reminder to all of us that joy and heartbreak can be held at the same time.”
Jones is a believer, as Ojeh was. She never thought that Ojeh would really die.
As “a woman of faith, you realize that you’re praying for an outcome and then if the outcome doesn’t come, then what? And that’s when I’ve really had to dig deep and realize that maybe I just don’t fully understand,” she said. “I know God loves me and I know God loves [Uche] and I know God loves my children and our families, so like, why is this happening?”
“I still don’t know if I have the answer, but I have peace that passes all understanding. That’s a Bible verse,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that it’s easier. It doesn’t mean that my grief is not excruciating.”
All of her partners on the TODAY show rallied around her while Ojeh was battling cancer.
During her absence, Al Roker said, “The fact of the matter is, we’re so grateful for all the fans and viewers who have been praying for her and praying for her family. [We’re] just taking it one day at a time.”
After his death, Savannah Guthrie said, “Uche was an extraordinary person…Sheinelle, my dearest, we love you and the kids with all of our hearts. I marvel at your strength.”
Now, Jones says she sees Ojeh in everything — like yellow butterflies and sunflowers.
“And I know that he knows,” she said of her new hour on the TODAY show. “He was rooting for me all along. I owe it to him to keep going.”
Jones hopes her three children carry their dad’s legacy “not with pain, but with power,” she said. “It hurts that this [loss] is happening to me, but it is excruciating that it’s happening to my kids.”
She’s reassured by her kids’ laughter. She knows that they will be okay.
“There’s joy there,” she added. “And for me, going back to work, with all of those people surrounding me, I feel safe and loved, and I don’t have to pretend. My joy is real.”
“When my kids and I look back, what mother do I want them to see? …Being a single mom is really hard, but I’m proud of my kids for how we’re managing,” Jones said.
She hopes that her grief journey inspires others as they see her “win,” even though each day is hard.
Read Next: TODAY’s Sheinelle Jones Says ‘Faith Kept’ Late Husband Going Amid Cancer Battle
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