Why Sheinelle Jones Shares Her Grief Publicly After Death of Husband

Why Sheinelle Jones Has Been So Candid About Her Grief After Uche Ojeh’s Death

Navigating grief is never easy, and there’s an added complication in doing so in the public eye. 

Whereas Sheinelle Jones could have retreated after the death of her husband Uche Ojeh in May 2025, choosing to keep her sadness hidden from cameras and audiences, she’s instead leaned into sharing her journey with the world.

Because for the Today host , there really was no other option but honesty.

"If I'm having a tough moment, I have to just say it,” Sheinelle, 48, told E! News in an exclusive interview. “What I realized is, when the men and women that we admire, who sometimes we think have it all, when they allow themselves to take the veil down or just say, ‘Hey, you know what, guys? I'm having a tough day,’ and they're honest about it—it's healing in a way that I think I underestimated.”

Not only is it healing for the viewer, she said, but sharing her experiences has been therapeutic for her, too. And she’s shared more than most, from sitting down for an interview with her Today colleague Savannah Guthrie about Uche’s cancer battle to detailing her mixed emotions in an Instagram post celebrating her first birthday since his death. 

“One of the things that she holds dear is the power of humor,” Sheinelle explained. “I took it to heart. So, if I'm on the show and I'm having a good time, it's because I allow myself to be present in the moment and have a great time. If I'm having a tough day, I allow myself to have a tough day.”

It admittedly took a moment for her to internalize the significance of what she was doing. 

“People kept saying, ‘You're so strong, you're so strong,’” she recalled. “And I'm just trying to survive, you know? At the beginning, I was just trying to get out of bed. It's like, ‘I have to go to work. So I'm going to get myself out of bed. I'm going to get to work.’”

She continued, “It's like you're doing the things that you feel like you have to do and somebody else sees it as strength. And I'm thinking, ‘Am I? Oh, me? I'm strong? Oh, okay.’”

But after weighing all she’s done in the last year— releasing her book and co-hosting Today with Jenna & Sheinelle alongside Jenna Bush Hager—against the backdrop of her grief, Sheinelle is ready to give credit where credit is due. 

“I was so busy trying to celebrate the strength of everyone else that it's honestly, maybe not until now, that I'm thinking, ‘You know what? Maybe I should celebrate my own,’” she said. “We don't do that for ourselves, but I'm finally starting to say, ‘You know what? I think I need to give myself some credit here, because it wasn't easy.’”