After months of being on leave, TV host Sheinelle Jones returned to the “Today” show Friday for a raw and emotional interview regarding her husband’s death.
Uche Ojeh, Jones’ husband of 17 years, succumbed to brain cancer in May at the age of 45. Together, the two share three kids, 16-year-old son Kayin, and 13-year-old twins, Clara and Uche.
Speaking about her loss for the first time with co-host Savannah Guthrie, Jones called the experience a “nightmare,” but one that was also “beautiful.”
“It felt scary. It felt divine. It felt bigger than us,” she said of their final days together in a New York City hospital room.
According to Jones, that “full circle” experience reminded her of when she and Ojeh would spend time together in a Northwestern University dorm room when they first met nearly 30 years ago.
“My 19-year-old self did it, and then my 47-year-old self was doing it again,” she said.
Jones told Guthrie that the nurses at the hospital called them “lovebirds” because of the way they held hands and professed their love for one another. Sept. 1 would have been their 18th wedding anniversary.
She also described how her athletic husband ran two triathlons, loved soccer and was an active dad, so seeing him fight for his life was a “nightmare.”
Jones in January took a break from hosting the third hour of “Today” because she wanted to spend more time with her family while she still could.
“I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring,” she said. “And I was starting to feel like I didn’t want to miss it.”
Jones said coming back to work doesn’t mean she’s recovered from her loss, but feels that it’s important to help keep her moving forward, both for her own sake and for her loved ones.
“So if you see me now and you see me laughing, or you turn on the morning show and I’m laughing or having a good time, you root for me…because I’m fighting for my joy,” she said.
Ojeh earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Northwestern University in 2001 and was a managing partner in a technology consulting company, according to his LinkedIn page.
