Savannah Guthrie shared some words of wisdom with Today colleague Sheinelle Jones to help her navigate grief after husband Uche Ojeh’s death.
“Savannah taught me a couple of things,” Jones, 47, told Today With Jenna & Sheinelle cohost Jenna Bush Hager during the Thursday, April 16, episode of the “Open Book With Jenna” podcast. “One, because her father passed at 16, she was like, ‘You don’t have to try to be the superhero.’ And she actually helped me tremendously.”
Jones added that Guthrie, 54, reminded her she can teach her and Ojeh’s eldest child, son Kayin, 16, that he doesn’t “have to be the father of the house” and still gets to “be a kid.” (Jones and Ojeh, who died at age 45 in May 2025, also shared twins Uche Jr. and Clara, 13.)
“So I’ve really had to lean on friends,” Jones continued. “I have another really good girlfriend who lost her father in fifth grade. Like, I’ve had to lean into friends who have had this. And so I’ve talked to people [about] how it was for them as children, and then I’ve really connected with other widows. Like, it’s this club. It’s a quiet club, but they are there. And we found them.”
Guthrie was the one to announce Ojeh’s death on Jones’ behalf on the Today show last spring. (Jones had taken a leave of absence beginning in December 2024.)
“With profound sadness, we share this morning that Uche Ojeh, the husband of our dear friend and Today cohost Sheinelle Jones, has passed away after a courageous battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma,” the TV personality said at the time. “There are no words for the pain that we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children. Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”
Jones returned to Today in September 2025, getting emotional as she spoke about Ojeh’s death.
“In this moment, I’m OK. Day-to-day, I’m OK. From a macro picture, how am I doing? My heart is shattered in a million pieces,” she said at the time. “The life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more. I always wanted kids, and I have three kids of my own now, and they lost their dad. I’m their mom, and it sucks. So, how am I doing? 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 we’ve been able to pull through, but it’s horrible.”
Savannah also recently returned to Today after taking more than two months off to assist with the ongoing search for her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie. Nancy, 84, was last seen by family members on the night of January 31. Authorities believe she was abducted from her home in the early hours of February 1.
“Someone needs to do the right thing,” Savannah said in a Today show interview in March. “We are in agony. … It is unbearable. And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night. Every night. And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable.”
Savannah added, “She needs to come home now.”
