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\nIn the latest PEOPLE cover story, Today’s Sheinelle Jones is opening up about facing loss and fighting for joy after the death of her husband
“I\u2019ve had to really do the work. Empathy is my superpower now, and I recognize that I hold two things: I hold my grief, and I also hold this joy,” she saysJones’ first day as Jenna Bush Hager’s cohost on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle aired on Monday, Jan. 12<\/p>\n
Sheinelle Jones<\/a> is still adjusting to life without her husband of 17 years.\n<\/p>\n “I don’t even think I understood fully what it would feel like to not have him,” Jones, 47, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story, noting it’s the small things, like not being able to text him when she boards a plane, that hit her the hardest. “It’s the life after where you really feel the loss.”\n<\/p>\n In May, the Today broadcaster faced the unimaginable when her husband, Uche Ojeh<\/a>, died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer<\/a>. Ojeh \u2014 her college sweetheart, a lifelong athlete and father to their three children, son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr, both 13 \u2014 was just 45.\n<\/p>\n \u201cMy kids lost their dad at 13 and 16,” says Jones, “but I try to tell them they got more in those years than some people get in a lifetime.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Sheinelle Jones photographed for PEOPLE on December 19, 2025 in New York City.<\/p>\n Brian Doben<\/a><\/p>\n Now, Jones is embarking on a new adventure \u2014 her first \u201cwin,\u201d she says, without Ojeh physically by her side. Together with Jenna Bush Hager, Jones launched Today with Jenna & Sheinelle on Jan. 12<\/a>, marking a new era for the show\u2019s fourth hour \u2014 which Bush Hager<\/a> helmed alongside some 60 \u201cfriends\u201d for the better part of the last year after Hoda Kotb<\/a>\u2019s departure in January 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople see me on TV and they think \u2018Oh, she\u2019s better.\u2019 It\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, no no. I\u2019m not better.\u2019 Every day, it\u2019s like swimming through mud,\u201d says Jones, who returned to the network in September after a leave of absence that began in late 2024. \u201cI\u2019ve had to really do the work. Empathy is my superpower now, and I recognize that I hold two things: I hold my grief, and I also hold this joy. I said it months ago, and I\u2019ll say it now: I am fighting for my joy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Having her dream job has become a cornerstone of that joy. “Jenna and I look at each other and we’re safe. If I fall, she’s going to pick me up and vice versa,” says Jones. “If I told you the depth of my groans and tears just months ago to one of the best days of my life here today, you couldn’t even write it.”\n<\/p>\n “I’m witnessing Sheinelle do this so effortlessly, and I know it’s not. I know it’s actually really hard, but she’s doing it,” says Bush Hager. “And she’s really such a reminder to all of us that joy and heartbreak can be held at the same time and that we have to find moments of joy and celebration even in darkness.”\n<\/p>\n Jones also found strength in the power of prayer. She always believed Ojeh would live, she says.\n<\/p>\n Sheinelle Jones for PEOPLE.<\/p>\n Brian Doben<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNot once did I think I was going to lose him,” she says. “When you’re a woman of faith, you realize that you’re praying for an outcome and then if the outcome doesn’t come, then what? And that’s when I’ve really had to dig deep and realize that maybe I just don’t fully understand. I know God loves me and I know God loves [Uche] and I know God loves my children and our families, so like, why is this happening? I still don’t know if I have the answer, but I have peace that passes all understanding. That’s a Bible verse. It doesn’t mean that it’s easier. It doesn’t mean that my grief is not excruciating.”\n<\/p>\n Jones, who had been a permanent fixture on the 3rd Hour of Today since 2019, worked for a year after Ojeh’s diagnosis. Her third hour co-anchors, Al Roker<\/a>, Craig Melvin<\/a> and Dylan Dreyer<\/a>, all rallied around their friend while she fought alongside her husband for 18 months.\n<\/p>\n Roker delivered breakfast sandwiches to hospice and Melvin visited Ojeh often. Savannah Guthrie<\/a> and Kotb brought gift baskets and devotional books to the hospital. And it was Dreyer who slipped into Jones\u2019 dressing room one morning in December 2024 to gently encourage her exhausted friend to step away from work and be with her family. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n Sheinelle Jones with Uche Ojeh and their three kids.<\/p>\n Courtesy Sheinelle Jones<\/p>\n Now, nine months after her husband’s death, Jones says she senses him everywhere: in yellow butterflies, in sunflowers, in his tie that she gave to their son before his recent Model Congress event.\n<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I know that he knows,\u201d she says of her new gig on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle. \u201cHe was rooting for me all along<\/a>. I owe it to him to keep going.\u201d\n<\/p>\n As for their three children, Jones wants them to carry their father\u2019s legacy \u201cnot with pain, but with power,\u201d she says. \u201cIt hurts that this [loss] is happening to me, but it is excruciating that it\u2019s happening to my kids. As a mom you just want to protect them from everything. This was the first thing I couldn\u2019t fix.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Sheinelle Jones photographed for PEOPLE on December 19, 2025 in New York City.<\/p>\n