Sheinelle Jones Returning to the Today Show Nearly 4 Months After the Death of Husband Uche Ojeh

Jones’ husband died at age 45 after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer

Rachel McRady is a Digital News Editor at PEOPLE. She has been an entertainment journalist for more than a decade, previously working for E! News, Entertainment Tonight, and Us Weekly.

Sheinelle Jones will soon be back behind the Today show desk for the first time since her husband Uche Ojeh’s death.

During a May 23 broadcast, Jones’ co-hosts announced that her husband of 18 years had died after a brain cancer diagnosis. And on Tuesday, Sept. 2, Savannah Guthrie announced that Jones, 47, will be returning to the NBC morning show after taking an extended leave of absence in late 2024.

“We’ve got some other great news that we are so excited to share with you and it involves a member of our own Today family,” Craig Melvin began the announcement.

“Yes, our beloved Sheinelle will be returning to the show,” Guthrie shared. “She and her family have been through so much after the devastating loss of her husband, Uche.”

Guthrie, 53, revealed that Jones will make her long-awaited return to the show for the first time since mid-December on Friday, Sept. 5. Co-host Jones will mark her return with an emotional, pre-taped interview with Guthrie, which will air on Friday.

“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 noted. “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.”

This will be Jones’ first time publicly speaking out since her husband’s death after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Jones initially told fans in a January Instagram post that she’d been taking time away from the show “to deal with a family health matter,” but she didn’t elaborate further, and thanked her “Today show family” for their support, as well as fans for their “kindness.”

A source later told PEOPLE that the situation was “serious” and said that Jones “appreciates the support from fans and viewers in her absence.”

Jones and Ojeh, who was 45, were married for nearly two decades prior to his death. They share three kids: Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13.

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After Guthrie announced the news of Ojeh’s death on May 23, Jones took to Instagram and shared a clip of the Today show segment and wrote, “Thank you, for all of your love and support ❤️.”

Guthrie was joined by the whole Today show team as she shared the news, and she said Jones had “been so strong through all of this, as was Uche.”

“We all know Sheinelle, she’s always smiling. She’s just the bright light when she walks into the room,” Dylan Dreyer, who co-hosts the 3rd hour with Jones, Al Roker and Craig Melvin, added.

“Even through this, she relied on her faith, she relied on her friends. I think back to COVID when they as a family were in South Carolina together. They had this special time of their life to just all be together because that was the most important thing to each and every one of them.”

Many of Jones’ Today co-hosts attended Ojeh’s funeral on May 30.

Prior of Ojeh’s death, Dreyer told Entertainment Tonight, “We chat with her often. A week doesn’t go by where we’re not checking in, seeing how she’s doing.”

“We pray for her all the time, we can’t wait for her to come back, so we’re just waiting for that day to come,” Dreyer added at the time.