Sheinelle Jones Returning to ‘Today’ Following Death of Her Husband

Sheinelle Jones is making her return to TODAY following the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh, in May.

The 3rd Hour of TODAY co-host, who has been absent from the NBC daytime show since January, will return Friday for a “deeply personal” interview with Savannah Guthrie, the network announced Tuesday.

Jones will open up to her colleague about how she and her three children — Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12 — are grieving the loss of Ojeh following his death at 45 due to brain cancer.

The NBC anchor will also share why she’s been calling her experience a “beautiful nightmare” in addition to passing along a message of hope for people also going through a difficult time.

Guthrie announced Jones’ return on Tuesday’s episode of TODAY. “Yes, our beloved Sheinelle will be returning to the show,” she said. “She and her family have been through so much after the devastating loss of her husband, Uche.”

“We recently sat down together. We shared a really personal conversation, talking about how she has carried on and found the strength these past few months,” Guthrie continued. “She calls this experience a ‘beautiful nightmare.’ And she has thoughts on grief that are so touching. She’s got a special message of hope too for anyone facing their own struggles, and we will share that with you. And we cannot wait to welcome Sheinelle home, right where she belongs, right here in our studio, Studio 1A on Friday.”

Jones announced in January that she would be taking a leave of absence from the show due to a family health matter. In May, her husband of 17 years died following his battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“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,” Guthrie said on TODAY on May 23, adding, “There are no words for the pain we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children. Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”

“One thing he always talked about — he talked about those kids,” Melvin added at the time. “He loved those kids more than anything else in this world, and was just so proud. He was that dad that was on the sideline at every soccer game. He was at all the concerts, the recitals. He was that guy, and they had such a beautiful love story.”