Less than four months after the death of her husband, Sheinelle Jones is ready to head back to work on the “Today” show.
The anchor’s return was announced on Tuesday by host Savannah Guthrie, who confirmed Jones will be back in front of the camera on Friday in a pre-taped interview.
Jones has been on leave since late last year amid Uche Ojeh‘s battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The father of three died in May at the age of 45.
Guthrie said Jones and her family “have been through so much after the devastating loss,” which they openly discussed in their interview.
“We recently sat down together,” Guthrie said. “We shared a really personal conversation talking about how she has carried on and found the strength these past few months.”
According to Guthrie, Jones has “thoughts on grief that are so touching” and plans to share a “special message of hope” for anyone experiencing a similar loss.
Jones and Ojeh were college sweethearts who met at Northwestern in the 1990s and married in 2007. They’re the parents of 16-year-old son Kayin, and 13-year-old twins, son Uche and daughter Clara.
Guthrie announced Ojeh’s death on May 23.
“With profound sadness, we share this morning that Uche Ojeh, the husband of our friend and ‘Today’ co-host Sheinelle Jones, has passed away after a courageous battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma,” she said.
“There are no words for the pain we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children,” Guthrie continued. “Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”
In announcing Jones’ return, Guthrie said she and her co-anchors “cannot wait to welcome Sheinelle home, right where she belongs.”
Jones co-hosts the third hour of “Today” alongside longtime weatherman Al Roker, meteorologist Dylan Dreyer and Guthrie’s main hours co-anchor Craig Melvin.
