We Finally Know Why Sheinelle Jones Has Been Absent From Today & It's So Tragic

Avid watchers of NBC's "Today" show know that co-host Sheinelle Jones has been away from the news desk since December 2024. On Friday, May 23, her co-workers explained the heartbreaking details of her absence. "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," Savannah Guthrie said on Friday's "Today" broadcast. Ojeh was just 45 years old and leaves behind his wife and their three children. "Uche was an incredible person," continued a teary-eyed Guthrie. "We all loved him."

Jones posted the loving clip from the broadcast on Instagram, writing: "Thank you, for all of your love and support." Her message comes in the wake of an announcement she made on Instagram in January, explaining her long hiatus from the morning news show. "I sincerely appreciate all of you who have reached out while I've been absent from the show," she began. "I want to share with you that I am taking time to deal with a family health matter."

The May 23 morning broadcast paid tribute to Uche Ojeh, who was married to Sheinelle Jones for 17 years. Ojeh and Jones had a stunning transformation in their decades-long relationship. According to "Today," the pair met on Northwestern University's campus when Jones, a freshman at the time, gave high school senior Ojeh a tour of the school. Talking about her partner, the "Today" show host told Northwestern Magazine that she agreed to help Ojeh around campus "because he was cute."

In 2007, Jones and Ojeh tied the knot in Philadelphia, the town from which Jones hails. In 2009, they welcomed their first son, Kayin, followed by twins Clara and Uche in 2012. Anchor Craig Melvin recalled the one thing Ojeh was most passionate about. "He talked about those kids," Melvin said on the broadcast. "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." It's clear that Ojeh will be deeply missed by Jones and everyone whose lives he touched.