NEED TO KNOW
Today’s Sheinelle Jones is opening up about the death of her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, in this week’s cover storyShe says she never asked him to send her signs, but she received one during her cover interview“They say things come to you in electricity,” Jones says of a moment during her interview that took everyone’s breath away
Sheinelle Jones never believed much in signs. Though she’s a proud woman of faith, she’s not so much a “woo woo person” she says with a laugh. But she believes her late husband sent her one during her PEOPLE cover interview.
In this week’s issue, the Today broadcaster is opening up about life after the death of her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, who died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, at age 45 in May.
Jones and Ojeh were college sweethearts and share three children, son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., 13. While Ojeh was still alive, Jones, 47, admits they never talked about the end of his life. “I think people have these visions of these long, heartfelt conversations and maybe you have those conversations when someone is older, but when someone’s 45 and on two soccer teams in the city, you’re not talking about the end, you’re fighting beside them,” she says.
Sheinelle Jones and her family.
Courtesy Sheinelle Jones
But when Jones looked at her husband and saw how he only seemed to be trying to postpone his family’s grief, she realized it might be selfish to want him to stay.
“I remember towards the end — I didn’t know it was the end at the time — but he was so weak. It was right at the tip of my tongue, I wanted so badly to ask him ‘If you die, can you just let me know that you’re okay? I don’t know how it works, but can you just try to find a way to let me know?’” she says. “And I looked at him, and I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want him to think, ‘Not you too.’ So I never asked.”
Sheinelle Jones for PEOPLE.
But as she spoke more about their bond during her interview, she got a sign.
When asked what she thinks her husband might say to her if he could on the morning of Jan. 12 — her first official day as cohost of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle — Jones smiles.
“I can see his face,” Jones says, “because he was kind of swaggy and quiet, a little cocky, which I thought was attractive. And he was, I feel like, equally tough on me. There would be times where I would do a interview, especially politics, because he was super into politics, and he would be like, ‘Make sure you ask this, make sure you ask that.’ He was always like my silent coach. So I could see his face when it’s like a job well done, right? You closed the deal, you have a show with your name on it, and I could picture his hug. And honestly, it probably looks exactly like that blue cap picture [when he greeted her after she completed the New York City Marathon] where he just is so proud.”
Uche Ojeh hugs wife Sheinelle Jones after she finished the New York City Marathon on November 5, 2023.
Courtesy Sheinelle Jones
Just seconds later, every single light went out on set.
“They say things come to you in electricity,” Jones says, absorbing the moment. “I know it’s him.”
Though Ojeh died in May, Jones says she still senses her late husband everywhere: in yellow butterflies, in sunflowers, in his tie that she gave to their son before his recent Model Congress event.
“And I know that he knows,” she says of her new gig as Jenna Bush Hager‘s cohost on Today’s fourth hour. “He was rooting for me all along. I owe it to him to keep going.”
Sheinelle Jones photographed at a Location Department home on December 19, 2025 in New York, NY. Photographer: Brian Doben Social: @briandoben Hair: Bianca Gachette Makeup: Danielle Terry Stylist: Brandyn Green Outfit: Victoria Beckham Jewelry: Wempe.
On Jan. 12, Jones embarked on a new adventure — her first “win,” she says, without Ojeh physically by her side, as she became Bush Hager’s new cohost.
“People see me on TV and they think ‘Oh, she’s better.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, no no. I’m not better.’ Every day, it’s like swimming through mud,” says Jones, who took about a year of absence from Today to care for her family. She returned in September 2025. “I’ve 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’ll say it now: I am fighting for my joy.”
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.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Sheinelle Jones photographed for PEOPLE on December 19, 2025 in New York City.
“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.”
Back on set, while people scramble to restore the light, Jones just smiles knowingly. “I have no doubt that if there is a way to let a loved one know that you’re okay after you pass,” she says, “he’s going to figure it out.”
For more on Sheinelle Jones, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE on stands Friday.