Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones talk about their hosting journey
Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones reveal how they found their perfect hosting partnership and what made the moment unforgettable.
When a journalist walked into young Sheinelle Jones’ school in Wichita, Kansas, on Career Day, the fifth-grader felt a lightning bolt. She wanted to be a news anchor.
After graduating from Northwestern University in 2000, she worked her way through the local market before joining NBC News in 2014. And now, the 47-year-old sits alongside Jenna Bush Hager in the fourth hour of NBC’s morning show after serving as the anchor for “Third Hour Today” and “Weekend Today.” “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle” was released on January 12th.
“We were holiday girls,” Bush Hager told USA TODAY about her days filling in for Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, who hosted from 2008 to 2019. “I remember when they went on vacation, we sat next to each other and just laughed.”
When thinking about how a job offer to permanently join Bush Hager might come, Jones imagined something like a small-town parade.
“I think I imagined streamers and ribbons from an NFL autograph session or something,” she says casually, alongside Bush Hager, 44. “Will we get a marching band or something? … As a fifth-grader, I was like, ‘We’re going to get streamers!'”
In fact, Jones received a phone call from an agent while in the back seat of his car driving home.
“But here’s the thing: I wouldn’t trade how it played out,” she says of the quiet moments without marching tuba players or colorful confetti. “Let me tell you why. Because my life is noisy and life can be noisy. I have three children (Cain, 16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13). I have a demanding career. I have a lot to do. is happening…and I was literally in the back seat of my car driving home and I got a call that said, ‘All systems have shut down. Congratulations, you’re doing it.’ And I was able to take it in by myself. ”
Jones recalled the first time she found out she was pregnant.
“I was alone and I thought, ‘Okay, I know I have to make an announcement,’ because I was watching the morning news in Philadelphia and my husband was probably outside the door,” she recalls. “I just wanted one beat…and for me, this was it for me. And I just felt like I deserved a beat like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this!’ ”
At home she banged a cup with the twins. Hers had wine in it and they toasted their mother with water. The trio FaceTimed with Jones’ eldest son, who was at the library.
“It was really special and they were so proud of me. They seemed really proud,” Jones says.
Jones and her children have adjusted to life as a family of four since losing her husband of 17 years. Uche Oje was diagnosed with glioblastoma and passed away in May 2025 at the age of 45.
When Bush Hager informed viewers about Jones’ new gig on Dec. 9, Jones told his co-hosts that the promo “feels divine. Uche feels like he’s in God’s presence. It’s like Mr. Competitive. It’s like, ‘Okay, let’s make this happen for Sheinelle.'”
Ms. Jones undoubtedly credits her husband’s accomplishments with new blessings.
“There’s no way I could look at my life and think all these things just randomly fell from the sky. It’s so crazy,” she says. “So absolutely, if there’s anyone who would find a way to let me know that I’m rooting for them from the other side, it’s definitely my husband, and I think that 100%.
“The pain doesn’t go away,” she added. “I never wish something like this had never happened. I take comfort in knowing that two things may be true, but it feels divine. I don’t feel alone, if that makes any sense. I feel supported by my guardian angel, but I also feel supported by the viewers and the people who watch the show… (I’ve received) letters, emails, Instagram messages, people have been so kind. Really, truly, I’ve seen the best of humanity.”
