Sheinelle Jones is learning to pick up the pieces after losing her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, to cancer.
The Today co-host returned to work on Friday, Sept. 5, after taking an extended leave while Uche battled glioblastoma, which according to the Mayo Clinic is an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Uche died in May 2025, and was 45 years old. The two Northwestern University graduates met in college and married in September 2007.
Sheinelle has previously described Uche as a “devoted husband and loving father,” with a bright spirit, although she joked he was frugal.
On Friday as she rejoined Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer on the 3rd hour of Today, Roker said: “We are so thrilled to have our dear, dear sister Sheinelle back after this journey.”
Sheinelle told her co-hosts, “Coming back here, it’s like, ‘Okay, here’s my home.'”
Sheinelle’s assistant placed a large container of greeting cards from viewers on the set, and a grateful Sheinelle said she planned to read each one after the show.
As for how she is doing, she discussed the emotional toll of losing her husband in a pre-recorded interview she did with Savannah Guthrie.
“My heart is shattered in a million pieces. The life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more. I’ve always wanted kids. I used to dream of having kids,” she said. “I have three kids of my own now and they’ve lost their dad. And I’m their mom. It sucks, so how am I doing? It’s day to day.”
Uche and Sheinelle’s three children are Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13.
“That’s what makes this harder,” she told Guthrie. “There are times where if I could just stay in bed, keep the door closed, not answer my phone and just sit it would be amazing.”
She added, “But I can’t do that, ’cause I have three little beings who are watching me.”
Simply put, she said the situation “sucks.”
“We would have been married 18 years this month,” she shared. “And it just always felt like we had it. And when he was dying, I would say this sucks, this is scary, but if you asked me if this was going to be my fate, I would do it all over again.”
Sheinelle compared her grief to a storm.
“Grief is like a wave, and what I’ve told my kids, it’s almost like rain can’t last forever,” she explained. “So when the rain comes, in some ways I’ve just learned to look up at the rain and let it be a cleansing rain and let it clear the air. And so I don’t run away from crying anymore. When it comes to grief, I see it as, ‘Here comes my cleansing rain.’ And it’s okay. I don’t fear it anymore.”
She said her co-workers helped her navigate the storm.
“Al Roker was coming to the hospital and the nurses gasped,” she said. “It’s kind of cool. He’s bringing the kids breakfast sandwiches on Sunday mornings in hospice. Truly, I had a family.”
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
