‘Today’s Sheinelle Jones Sends Message to Fans After Reaching ‘Heartbreak Quota’
What To Know
- Sheinelle Jones returned to Today following the death of her grandmother on Monday, January 5.
- Jones took to social media to thank fans for supporting her in 2025 amid the deaths of her grandmother and husband, Uche Ojeh.
- Jones will start her Jenna Bush Hager’s new fourth hour of Today cohost on January 12.
Sheinelle Jones is feeling the love from Today fans after experiencing major losses in 2025.
The Monday, January 5, episode of the NBC morning show marked Jones and several hosts’ return to the series after their holiday breaks. During her time off, Jones announced that her grandmother, Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown, died at the age of 96 on New Year’s Eve. Her death comes seven months after Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, passed away at the age of 55 following a private battle with brain cancer.
After filling in for Savannah Guthrie during Monday’s episode, Jones took to Instagram to thank her fans for their support over the past year. “Hi, everyone. I just wanted to say thank you. Something just hit me, and I thought, ‘You know what? I’m gonna log on and say thank you,’” she shared in an Instagram Story video. “I feel like I keep telling my friends I have reached my heartbreak quota for the next 75 years, so I am praying that 2026 and beyond is just sunshine and rainbows.”
Noting that she wore several pieces of her grandmother’s jewelry on the show that morning, Jones continued, “The reason why I logged on is because when I announced that I was joining Jenna [Bush Hager] [on the fourth hour of Today], I made the comment through tears that growing up, I never saw my name on anything like pens or pencils or keychains. Like, Sheinelle’s just this long name. But you guys have been sending me pens with my name on it, pencils, and you’re not even telling me your name. But it’s super sweet.”
Courtesy of Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
She concluded, “I feel like you’re my family, and I don’t even know your names or your faces. But I’ve got pens and stuff with my name on it now. It’s really sweet. So, that’s all. Love you guys. Happy Monday.”
Last month, Bush Hager announced that Jones would become her permanent cohost on the fourth hour of Today starting on January 12. Today With Jenna & Friends will air its final episode on Friday, January 9, after which the show will be renamed to Today With Jenna & Sheinelle.
“Do you remember, like, in Cracker Barrel, they would have pencils and pens with names on them? Or you’d go to airports and there’d be keychains? There was never a Sheinelle,” she said in reaction to the seeing the show’s logo on the December 9 episode of Jenna & Friends. Bush Hager added, “There really wasn’t a Jenna, either.”
Jones continued, “I may not get a pen or a pencil or a keychain, but we have a show!”
The third hour of Today‘s Friday, January 2, episode — which was prerecorded — marked Jones’ last day cohosting alongside Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer before she begins her new Today role.
“To you guys at home, thank you so much for all of it, for scaffolding me and the kids. We come in and we laugh, and we’re genuinely laughing. We tear up, like now,” she said on the show. “This has been one of the rides of my life, with you guys.”
Today, Weekdays, 7 a.m./6c, NBC
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