Introducing “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle!”
Sheinelle Jones will be Jenna Bush Hager’s permanent co-host on “Today with Jenna & Friends” almost a year after Hoda Kotb’s departure.
The “Today” show announced the exciting news via Instagram on Tuesday, writing, “After nearly a year of rotating 60 contenders, Jenna Bush Hager has found her permanent co-host for the fourth hour of TODAY: Sheinelle Jones!”
Jones is set to take her official post on Jan. 12.
“While Sheinelle will start co-hosting TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle in the new year, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Dylan Dreyer will remain co-hosts of the Third Hour,” the statement clarified.
The two women confirmed the news on Tuesday’s episode of “Jenna & Friends” with Hager emotionally revealing, “Over the last year, you guys, I’ve had the privilege of co-hosting this show with 60 incredible friends — I didn’t think I was going to cry before we even started — who’ve opened up to me, who inspired me … today, I’m so thrilled to announce that I’ve found my forever friend and we are going to start a brand new journey in January.
“I couldn’t be more excited to share this person with you all. You all know her; she’s an extraordinary broadcaster but more importantly, she exemplifies what this show is all about.”
Jones immediately stepped out from backstage and took a seat, saying as she teared up, “I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or scream — I don’t know!”
Jones, who has been a part of the franchise since 2014, regularly appears on the show during the third hour, but will now move to the fourth hour segment alongside Hager.
Kotb, 61, announced she would be departing NBC after 26 years in September 2024.
At the time, the news anchor, who is the mother of daughters Haley, 8, and Hope, 6, shared that it was time for her to “move on.” She officially left the NBC network in January.
As of March, Page Six heard from an insider that NBC wasn’t “close to naming a permanent co-host”despite celebrities expressing their interest.
Jones, meanwhile, returned to the “Today” show in September after taking a months-long leave when her husband, Uche Ojeh, died from brain cancer in May.
During a pre-taped interview with Savannah Guthrie, she talked about how Ojeh’s death left her “heart shattered into a million pieces.”
“It’s day to day. I’m proud of myself for how I’ve coped so far. I’m proud of my kids for how they’ve been able to try to pull through,” Jones, 47, said.
“There are times where if I could just stay in bed … it would be amazing, but I can’t do that because I have three little beings who are watching me,” she added, referring to her kids: Kayin,16, and 13-year-old twins Clara and Uche.
Later that month, the mom of three gave a glimpse into her transition back into the workforce, explaining that weekdays are easier than weekends due to having a packed schedule.
“Saturday morning for me was tough,” Jones explained. “Saturday is when [me and Ojeh would] look at each other and [say], ‘Oh my God what a week.’”
“It was usually like, ‘Oh my God, that interview on Tuesday, I should have said this. Or what about this?’” she continued.
The post Sheinelle Jones replaces Hoda Kotb as Jenna Bush Hager’s co-host and ‘forever friend’ on ‘Today’ appeared first on Page Six.
