‘Today’: Sheinelle Jones Stops Mid-Segment After Surprise From Old Friends
What To Know
- Sheinelle Jones was surprised live on Today when a pair of women she used to babysit unexpectedly visited the studio.
- Jones was also surprised by an old scholarship letter she wrote that the women kept from her high school days.
- The heartwarming moment comes two months after Jones returned to Today following the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh.
Sheinelle Jones got an unexpected surprise on the third hour of Today‘s Tuesday, November 25, episode.
At the top of the show, Jones and her cohosts, Craig Melvin and Al Roker, chatted about a report claiming that New York City residents will wait over 50 minutes for a table at restaurants. Amid the discussion, Jones got distracted by some familiar faces outside of Today‘s Studio 1A.
“What? Sorry, somebody’s outside of the window and I know them. Come on in!” she stated. “I used to babysit her children. That’s Ms. Barbara from Wichita.”
Jones’ jaw dropped when she realized that the woman Ms. Turner’s daughter, Kennedy, is all grown up. “Oh my gosh! How is she taller than me?” Jones said of her former babysitting client. “Okay, that does not happen every day, where people from Wichita that you babysit just happen to walk by.”
Jones, Melvin, and Roker continued their conversation until the two women were brought inside the studio. “This is Ms. Turner and her daughter, Kennedy,” Jones said before asking, “Are you just randomly in town?”
NBC
Ms. Turner explained that she and her daughter were in NYC and “had to come see” Jones in person. Kennedy added that Jones used to babysit her when she was around 5 or 6 years old, and that she’s now 37.
Kennedy’s age shocked Jones, who is now 47. “She just put your age out there,” Melvin quipped, while Roker joked, “Everybody’s thinking right now, you know what they’re thinking? ‘Sheinelle looks good for somebody so old.’”
Ms. Turner also surprised Jones with a scholarship letter she wrote back in high school. “Oh, they came with receipts!” Melvin exclaimed. Roker, for his part, noted that Jones does not “look any different” than she did in the cheerleading photo featured on the letter.
“Sheinelle Jones, this is your life!” Roker joked.
Jones returned to Today in September after taking several months off to help her husband, Uche Ojeh, through his private battle with brain cancer. On a May episode of the NBC morning show, Savannah Guthrie announced that Ojeh had died at the age of 45.
NBC
Jones’ surprise comes a few weeks after another funny on-air third hour of Today moment. During his day off from the show, Al Roker hilariously crashed one of his colleagues’ interviews by standing outside of the Today studio’s window.
“Al Roker. He could come in to work today, but he could hang outside the studio,” Melvin quipped on November 4.
Third Hour of Today, Weekdays, 9 a.m./8c, NBC
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