‘Today’s Sheinelle Jones Shares How Anderson Cooper Helped Her Through Grief

Sheinelle Jones has a fellow TV personality to thank for helping her through her recent family losses.

The Today host appeared on the Thursday, May 21, episode of Anderson Cooper‘s All There Is podcast, during which she thanked the CNN host for being a beacon of light amid her grief journey.

“You have been, and I mean this so sincerely, the soundtrack to my healing,” she stated. “You, along with all of the people that you’ve talked with, when you hear other people share, it is healing, and you don’t feel as isolated, you feel less alone. And so, I feel like you’ve created this beautiful quilt of nurturing our hearts, and so, I am honored to be part of this quilt.”

Cooper launched the All There Is podcast, on which he and his guests open up about their experiences with grief, in 2022. Anderson has experienced several losses over the years, including the deaths of his father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, and his brother, Carter Cooper.

In December 2024, Jones began a months-long hiatus from Today to address an undisclosed family health matter. It wasn’t until May 2025 that it was revealed that her husband, Uche Ojeh, had died at the age of 45 following a private battle with brain cancer. She returned to the NBC morning show that September and began her role as Jenna Bush Hager‘s fourth hour cohost in January.

Uche Ojeh and Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown (NBC)

On the podcast, Jones admitted that despite her husband’s medical condition, she still thought he would beat his cancer. “The first time the doctors recommended hospice, I said no. I wanted him to be able to be home. He wanted to be home. And I was like, ‘I’ll do it,'” she shared, noting that she took care of Ojeh at home for a few months before he entered hospice.

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Jones also revealed that she tried to convince Ojeh to write letters to their three kids — Kayin, Clara, and Uche — but doing so would mean they would accept that he wouldn’t make it. “I think by the time he was like, ‘OK, maybe,’ I think it was probably too late,” she shared.

When asked how her parenting has changed in the wake of Ojeh’s death, Jones admitted that it is difficult to know she can’t fix her kids’ grief. “It’s excruciating that I can’t take that pain away, that they have to learn how to deal with it and wrestle with it and hold it and make it make sense,” she said. “And so, I’m left trying to figure out how to nurture their hearts.”

In addition to the loss of her husband, Jones also mourned the death of her 96-year-old grandmother, Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown, in January. On the podcast, Jones teared up as Cooper surprised her with a clip from one of her grandmother’s A.R.I.S.E. (African Americans Renewing Interest in Spirituals Ensemble) choir performances.

“I’ve been grieving for so long that I don’t think I have truly grieved her, because then it’s too much,” Jones confessed. “Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, you’re so strong, and you’re there for your kids, and all of the things.’ And grieving him has been so much. And so, with her, I’ve had to, like, tuck it just a little bit. Like, I can feel it, but like, if I allow myself to truly explore what she means to me, I might have to take a personal day tomorrow.”

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