Following Hoda Kotb’s departure, Jenna Bush Hager’s new co-host on Today has been announced, with the debut set for January 12.
Jenna Bush Hager is prepared to formally welcome a new teammate. The host of Today With Jenna & Friends announced that Today's Sheinelle Jones will become her permanent co-host in the upcoming year, following nearly a year of alternating guest co-hosts like Brooke Shields, Olivia Munn, and Scarlett Johansson.
"Today, I am so thrilled to announce I have found my forever friend, and we are going to start a brand-new journey in January,” Jenna stated in the morning show's December 9 broadcast. “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 exactly what this show is all about."
Sheinelle, for her part, is equally excited to participate in the fourth hour of the NBC News program, saying, “I look back at my career, and it was just like one market at a time, you know, things just kept happening. And so now to have a show like this is beyond my wildest dreams. This is the real deal, and I get to do it with Jenna."
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As they described their lengthy friendship, the two became tearful. Jenna continued, "To get to sit next to Chanel, I've known her for a decade, but to get to fall even more in love with her will be a beautiful chapter in this show."
Sheinelle will join the recently created Today with Jenna & Sheinelle starting on January 12, despite months of rumors that frequent cohosts like Matt Rogers or Regina Hall would be ready to fill the vacancy left by Hoda Kotb in January.
The 47-year-old began hosting the Third Hour of Today in January 2019 after joining the Today team in October 2014 as a co-anchor of Weekend Today.
Sheinelle, meanwhile, has been concentrating on her personal life lately. She took an almost nine-month break to help her family when her husband Uche Ojeh fought brain cancer. She returned to the morning news program after his passing in May, referring to her other Today co-hosts, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer, and Jenna, as her "family."
“You guys have been my oxygen,” as she returned in September, she remarked. “And you guys at home, all the messages and prayers, I'm so thankful.”
Sheinelle, who has twins Clara and Uche, ages 13, as well as a 16-year-old son named Kayin, wasn't the only one who was appreciative of her return. In fact, Savannah gave her buddy a heartfelt welcome and assured her that Studio 1A had improved since she returned.
“I hope you felt how missed you were,” the co-anchor for Today stated. “You wanted to be there for every moment—the painful moments and the beautiful moments—and you were, but you were so, so missed. It is just not the same without you, Sheinelle.”
Savannah continued, “You're the heartbeat here, and we're so happy that you're home.”
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