Jenna Bush Hager Announces Permanent ‘Jenna & Friends’ Cohost — Find Out Who
What To Know
- Jenna Bush Hager announced that Sheinelle Jones will become her permanent cohost for the fourth hour of Today starting January 12.
- Jones, a longtime Today personality, will leave her role on the show’s third hour to join Bush Hager, following a year of rotating guest cohosts after Hoda Kotb’s departure.
- Jones recently returned to Today after the passing of her husband, Uche Ojeh.
After nearly one year of Today With Jenna & Friends, Jenna Bush Hager is finally getting a permanent fourth hour of Today cohost.
“After 60 cohosts, which I can’t believe, I’ve found my forever friend,” Bush Hager announced during the NBC morning show’s 8 a.m. hour on Tuesday, December 9. “I’m so excited to share that person with you and to start this new journey together.”
Bush Hager teased that fans would have to tune in to the fourth hour to find out, while Savannah Guthrie described the news as a “very well-kept secret.”
Two hours later, Bush Hager dropped the news at the top of Jenna & Friends‘ Tuesday episode. The famous face who will officially join Bush Hager on the show is none other than Today‘s Sheinelle Jones.
Jones follows in the footsteps of Hoda Kotb, who stepped down from Today after nearly 20 years on the show on January 10. She cited turning 60 and wanting to spend more time with her daughters — Haley, 8, and Hope, 6 — as the main reasons behind her decision.
Craig Melvin took over Kotb’s role as Guthrie’s news coanchor, while Bush Hager began cohosting the fourth hour of Today, revamped as Jenna & Friends, with a variety of celebrity guest hosts.
Jones has been on Today since 2014 and became a cohost of the show’s third hour in 2019. Late last year, she took an extended leave of absence from the series due to a family health matter. In May, Guthrie broke news on the show that Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, had died at the age of 45 following a private battle with brain cancer. (The couple shared son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13.)
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Jones made her triumphant Today return on September and made her Jenna & Friends cohosting debut that same month.
Jones will officially join the fourth hour of Today, renamed Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, on January 12. Due to her new role, Jones will depart the third hour of Today. Melvin, Al Roker, and Dylan Dreyer will continue to lead the third hour.
Bush Hager previously stated that the series was in no rush to name a permanent cohost. “We’re, like, could we have a permanent cohost? Sure. Could we keep doing this? Sure,” she shared in a March interview with Us Weekly. “It’s kind of fun because obviously, after almost six years of doing the show with somebody who I adored so much, I knew what every single day was going to look like to some extent. I had this real constant and a partner. So, it’s kind of fun to be like, ‘OK, what’s going to happen tomorrow?'”
Kotb, for her part, shared her top picks to replace her on Today during a June appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “Anybody would be so lucky. But to me, the contenders are Savannah [Guthrie]. I think she would be great. I think Justin Sylvester is amazing,” she said at the time. “Scarlett Johansson crushed it.”
Kotb went on to name actor and comedian Matt Rogers and Jones as additional picks. “I feel like it’s whoever clicks great with Jenna,” she told Cohen.
Today With Jenna & Friends, Weekdays, 10 a.m./9c, NBC
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