Watch: Why Sheinelle Jones Has Been So Candid About Her Grief After Uche Ojeh’s Death
Everyone knows about work wives, those trusted colleagues that makes the eight-hour office day just a little easier.
But for Sheinelle Jones, her colleagues on Today—including Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker and Craig Melvin—are truly family. And that bond was never more on display than when Sheinelle’s husband Uche Ojeh was fighting glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, for 18 months before his death in May 2025.
“When my husband was sick, they were my family,” Sheinelle told E! News in an exclusive interview. “Al was bringing breakfast sandwiches into hospice for us, Savannah was right with us after the first surgery.”
She emphasized, the bond people see on TV, “It’s not just pretend.”
And while that bond between the morning show’s anchors can be felt through the screen, Sheinelle—who is mom to three kids with Uche—stressed how much of that love is felt behind closed doors.
“We do it when no one’s watching,” she said, pointing out that publicly, “nobody knew what I was going through—they all knew. Every day I was never alone. They were always there helping the kids, helping me with dinner.”
That love and support also extends to the entire Today family. As she put it, “When it’s time to rally around each other, we do it.”
The 48-year-old is also aware that the close bond is unique—and she’s eternally grateful.
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
“There are movies all about morning shows and all the drama and all the things,” she said. “What I know to be true is ours is for real. In the TV business, sometimes you move to these cities where you don’t know anybody or you may not have any family—when you say work family, we really are a family.”
And that community mentality extends to the viewers, who have quickly rallied around Sheinelle’s new book, Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans. In fact, the public reception to Through Mom’s Eyes since it hit bookstores on April 14 has been beyond Sheinelle’s “wildest dreams.”
“I have been in every city, and people write cards and letters,” she said of her book tour. “And the other night I sat down and I opened them up last night and I read them. They meant a lot to me.”
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She continued, “Reading some of the letters allowed me to receive. Like as much joy as I’m trying to bring, they’re giving it back to me. Whatever the strength is that I’m exuding, they’re giving it back to me with some of the things that they’re saying. And so, it has become this beautiful dance.”
Because more than anything, Sheinelle wanted to foster connection and community.
“The amount of folks who come up to me, whether they’re a mom or maybe they’re a widow or maybe they’re a single mom or maybe they went to Northwestern like I did, you know, all the boxes—it’s this fellowship,” she said. ” In the book, I say, ‘Welcome to the biggest mom village.’ I really believe it. I just want whoever’s reading it to not feel alone.”
Through Mom’s Eyes is available for purchase now.
For more of the Today show family’s sweetest moments, read on.
Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
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