Hoda Kotb Has Emotional Reunion with Sheinelle Jones on Today After the Death of Her Husband: ‘She’s Changing Lives’

Hoda Kotb took a walk down memory lane as she returned to Today on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

The former Today co-anchor, 61, reunited with her former colleagues and friends in the studio, including Sheinelle Jones, eight months after departing the morning show.

Jones, 47, lost her husband Uche Ojeh in May. He died after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. He was 45.

While speaking with Savannah Guthrie, Willie Geist, Jenna Bush Hager, Craig Melvin, and Al Roker, Kotb praised her longtime friend following the death of her husband.

“I just said this to Sheinelle, she’s changing lives just by being exactly who she is,” Kotb said.

Kotb continued, “Three of my friends called immediately after you guys were talking and said that they felt forever changed after listening to that conversation. So I was saying, you don’t have to make any effort. Just be. And you’re doing what you’re doing.”

“So anyway, I love you,” she added. “That was amazing.”

Jones — who joined the network in 2014 and has been a constant across all of Today‘s programming — first stepped away from the Today show in December 2024.

The journalist addressed her absence in an Instagram post on Jan. 15, explaining that she was taking “time to deal with a family health matter.” Though she didn’t disclose specific details at the time, an insider told PEOPLE the situation was “serious” but didn’t concern Jones or their children.

On May 23, Jones’ Today cohosts finally shed light on the situation as they revealed Ojeh had died following a journey with brain cancer. Jones later posted a clip of the segment on her Instagram and wrote, “Thank you, for all your love and support,” but did not speak out further about the loss.

That all changed on Sept. 5 when she made her return to the Today show and sat down with Guthrie, 53, for an emotional conversation about her husband’s death and her grieving process.

“My heart is shattered in a million pieces,” Jones said. “The life that I’ve known since I was 19 is no more. I’ve always wanted kids. I used to dream of having kids. I used to put pictures up of kids, in my room and my friends would be like, you’re weird, you don’t know those kids, and I would laugh. I have three kids of my own now, and they’ve lost their dad and I’m their mom.”

Jones, who shares son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12 with Ojeh, said she takes her pain “day to day,” but added, “It’s horrible. It’s just horrible.”

Returning to Today was also intentional on Jones’ part, as she explained how she wants it to serve as an inspiration to others in similar situations.

“Cancer doesn’t have to steal our joy. We can get up, we can get out of bed, and we can go to work, we can go to school, we can squeeze the most out of the days that we have. And honestly, I feel like Uche’s heartbeat lives on in mine,” she said. “So I owe it to him to just squeeze the most I can out of this thing.”

“We can grieve but we can also still try to move forward. We don’t move on, but we move forward with our loved ones. And I hope that just by me being on the set and me returning to work, it’s like, ‘Okay, if I can do it, so can you,’ ” she continued.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In the late ’90s, Jones and Ojeh crossed paths during their time as students at Northwestern University. After dating for eight years, he proposed on the campus of their alma mater in the middle of a rainstorm, catching her by surprise. Jones and Ojeh married in 2007.