‘Today’s Sheinelle Jones Says Her Kids Bonded With Savannah Guthrie After Husband’s Death

The hosts of Today rallied around Sheinelle Jones during her late husband Uche Ojeh’s health struggles, especially Savannah Guthrie.

“I think my kids started to bond even more with some of my colleagues, like Savannah, for example,” Jones shared in an interview with People published on Wednesday, January 21. “I knew that Savannah lost her father around the same age that my kids lost their father, but I look back now and I’m like, ‘That’s why she was so amazing because she knows it and she had a mom who lived it.’ She was able to approach it as a daughter, but also remembering how her mom went through it.”

Jones shared her three kids — Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13 — with Ojeh, who died of brain cancer at the age of 45 in May 2025. Guthrie’s father, Charles, died of a heart attack when she was 16 years old.

Jones noted that Guthrie “really wrapped her arms around me” during her husband’s difficult time. “I remember during his first surgery, Savannah rushed in. I’m like, ‘How did you get here?’ And she prayed with my family and his family, and so they just really connected and they really bonded,” she shared.

Jones and her family also relied on Guthrie’s book Mostly What God Does to connect with their faith. “We always had [the book] with him, and he would carry it around,” she told the outlet.

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It was Guthrie who announced Ojeh’s death on Today in May 2025. Jones also sat down with Guthrie for her first on-air interview since Ojeh’s death in September 2025.

Guthrie, for her part, recalled visiting Ojeh in the hospital as he battled glioblastoma. “Other times I’ve been to that same hospital and I’ve had to wait and they don’t let you just walk in. But somehow I found myself not only there, but standing outside the room where he was getting ready for surgery,” she shared. “And I was almost like, ‘Should I knock on this curtain? What am I doing?’ I have my [gift] basket, but I’m like, ‘I don’t belong here.’ I thought I was just going to leave it.”

Guthrie said she, Jones, and Ojeh “all burst into tears” once she entered the hospital room. “I hugged him and he was listening to praise and worship music as he almost always was. And so I would hold his hands and we would pray. I could see what was in his heart and how much he loved life and just how much faith and belief he had, it was palpable,” she said.

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Other Today hosts supported Jones and her family in their own ways. Craig Melvin would pay Ojeh frequent visits, while Al Roker delivered breakfast meals to the couple while Ojeh was in hospice. Jones also revealed that it was Dylan Dreyer who encouraged her to step away from Today in late 2024 to focus on supporting Ojeh.

“When my colleagues stepped in, it was ‘Who do we need to call? Can we just come over? Can we help you with your kids?’ And sending meal trains, and just all of the things,” Jones gushed. “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.”

Jones returned to Today in September 2025. That December, it was announced that Jones would become Jenna Bush Hager‘s permanent fourth hour of Today cohost. The show relaunched as Today With Jenna & Sheinelle on January 12.

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