‘Today’ Cohosts Jenna Bush Hager & Sheinelle Jones Detail How They Became Friends Years Ago

Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones shared a sweet bond long before they became cohosts on the fourth hour of Today.

Bush Hager joined the Today family as a contributor and correspondent in 2009, and later took over for Kathie Lee Gifford as Hoda Kotb‘s fourth hour cohost in 2019. Jones, meanwhile, became a Weekend Today co-anchor in 2014 and joined the third hour of Today‘s hosting lineup in 2019.

During their early days working together, Bush Hager and Jones bonded over a shared familial experience. “[Sheinelle] just lost her grandmother, but both of us got to know our grandparents as adults, which is something that’s so unbelievably lucky and not many people get to do,” Bush Hager told People in an interview published on Tuesday, January 20. “My kids have already lost a grandfather. So to get to know your grandparents into your 30s and 40s and have them shape your life in such profound ways — which is something the two of us really share — is remarkable.”

Bush Hager is the granddaughter of the late former president George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, as well as the late Harold Welch and Jenna Welch on her mother’s side. Jones lost her grandfather, Dr. Val Brown Sr., in 2022, and recently mourned the death of her grandmother, Josephine Brown, in December 2025. Her grandmother’s death came seven months after the death of Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, in May 2025.

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While talking to People, Jones described her late grandparents as “trailblazers.” Referring to Barbara and Brown, she added, “[Jenna and I] both have feisty grandmothers. Mine was the first woman of color on the school board in my hometown. Her grandmother is as equally beyond feisty, right?”

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Jones told the outlet she was “very close” with her grandfather. “He was one of the first African American doctors in my hometown, and I had a really close relationship with him and he passed several years ago,” she described. “Jenna was one of my first messages and her words were the only words that really gave me comfort because she was so close to her grandfather. One was president and one was an African American trailblazer, but we could meet each other with our love for our grandparents.”

It was announced in December 2025 that Jones would become Bush Hager’s permanent fourth hour of Today cohost. “What people may not know is that Sheinelle and I have this long, beautiful history together,” Bush Hager said in a prerecorded video package aired on the show. Jones pointed out that she and Bush Hager “were always the fill-ins for Kathie Lee and Hoda” when they hosted the show.

The first episode of the revamped fourth hour, titled Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, premiered on January 12.

Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10a/9c, NBC