Sheinelle Jones Opens Up About Grief While Adjusting to New ‘Today’ Role: ‘Like Swimming Through Mud’

For Sheinelle Jones, a long-awaited career milestone arrived during one of the most painful chapters of her life.

The Today star, 47, is stepping into her first week as cohost of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle — a role she learned she’d secured in September, just months after the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh. Ojeh died at age 45 last May following a battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Jones and Ojeh were high school sweethearts and shared three children: son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr., both 13.

While joining Jenna Bush Hager in the anchor chair marks a professional “win,” Jones said the achievement exists alongside deep and ongoing grief — something she opened up about in a new interview with People published on Wednesday, January 14.

“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,” the journalist admitted.

“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,” the Today star continued. “I said it months ago, and I’ll say it now: I am fighting for my joy.”

Jones credits her bond with Bush Hager for helping her through the transition, noting that the two cohosts feel a deep sense of trust with one another.

“If I fall, she’s going to pick me up and vice versa,” Jones explained to People. “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.”

Despite returning to work, Jones said grief remains a daily presence — one she feels through small reminders of her late husband. She shared that she still senses Ojeh’s presence in moments like spotting yellow butterflies, sunflowers, or noticing a tie she recently gifted their son.

“And I know that he knows,” she said of her new job. “He was rooting for me all along. I owe it to him to keep going.”