Jenna Bush Hager’s ‘Today’ Fourth Hour Co-Host Finally Revealed

It’s official — Jenna Bush Hager has found her co-host for the fourth hour of the TODAY show.

Sheinelle Jones, who currently co-hosts the NBC morning show’s third hour, will join the fourth hour as Bush Hager’s permanent co-host on Jan. 12, when the hour will officially be renamed TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.

“I’ve made some incredible friends, and I’ve learned so much about myself, and you, the audience, have been with me for the entire time. So thank you so much,” Bush Hager said at the start of the show Tuesday. “Today, I am so thrilled to announce I have found my forever friend, and we are going to start a brand new journey in January.”

Bush Hager continued that she has known Jones now for a decade, but “to get to fall even more in love with her will be, I think, a beautiful chapter in this show.”

Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Dylan Dreyer will remain co-hosts of the third hour of TODAY as Jones takes her place on TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.

The fourth hour announcement comes nearly a year after Hoda Kotb stepped down from her role alongside Bush Hager in order to spend more time with her children. In the months following Kotb’s departure, Bush Hager invited numerous guest hosts onto TODAY with Jenna & Friends, including Jones, Michelle Obama, Tyra Banks, Andy Cohen, and Scarlett Johansson.

“This marks an exciting new chapter for the fourth hour,” TODAY executive vice president Libby Leist and Jenna & Friends executive producer Talia Parkinson-Jones said in a statement Tuesday. “Jenna and Sheinelle are two extraordinary talents who have grown within the ranks of TODAY. They are beloved for their authenticity, warmth and genuine connection with our TODAY audience.”

Jones first joined Weekend TODAY in 2014, and five years later, became a third hour co-host. In January, Jones took a hiatus from the NBC show in order to care for her husband of 17 years, Iche Ojeh, who died in May after a battle with brain cancer at age 45. Jones returned to TODAY in September.