Sheinelle Jones Reveals How Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Prediction for Her Came True
After leaving her spot cohosting the third hour of NBC’s Today to join Jenna Bush Hager in Today with Jenna & Sheinelle this January, Sheinelle Jones is reflecting on words of wisdom she got from predecessor Hoda Kotb.
“It’s crazy. I started in January, so we’re almost at a year,” Jones told People at the 2026 Ebony Power 100 Gala last week. “I remember when I started, Hoda called me and she was like, ‘Listen.’ She was like, ‘It’s going to be more fun than you can ever imagine. … One day you’re going to be giving a graduation speech, and you’re going to talk about how sitting in that chair changed your career and how you had so much fun.’”
Kotb had years of experience behind those words: She co-hosted Today’s fourth hour from 2007 to 2025, first alongside Kathie Lee Gifford and then alongside Bush.
And Kotb’s prediction, Jones said, came true. “Already, almost a year in, she’s right,” Jones told People. “It has been more amazing than I could have ever imagined.”
Jones joined the Today team as a weekend news anchor in 2014 and became one of the morning show’s third-hour co-hosts in 2019. She had a months-long leave of absence between 2024 and 2025 due to the cancer battle and death of her husband, Uche Ojeh. She returned to Studio 1A in September 2025 and started guest-hosting what was then called Today With Jenna & Friends . And that December, she was named a permanent co-host of that fourth hour.
After her new job became public knowledge, Jones revealed that Kotb called her to congratulate her. “She goes, ‘Don’t say anything. Just listen,’ and she gave me 45 seconds of just wisdom that changed me,” Jones said at the time. “[Kotb said] ‘You’re gonna talk about how this was a moment that changed your career, and it was the best decision for your kids, for you.’ She was like, ‘Working with Jenna, it’s gonna be better than you can ever imagine. You’re gonna love it.’”
Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10a/9c, NBC
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