Uche Ojeh, the husband of Today co-host Sheinelle Jones, has died, the show announced on Friday.
The cause was a form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, Today host Savannah Guthrie told viewers. He was 45.
“There are no words for the pain that we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children,” Guthrie said. “Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”
Jones has been with the network since 2014. She became co-host of the third hour of the show in 2019.
Ojeh, a consultant, and Jones had been married for 17 years, having met in the late 1990s, when Jones was a freshman at Northwestern University and Ojeh, then a high school senior, offered to give him a tour of campus, Guthrie said. Ojeh proposed to Jones eight years later during a visit to the campus. They married in 2007.
Ojeh, a consultant, is survived by a son, Kayin, born in 2009, and twins, a son Uche, and daughter Clara, born in 2012.
Jones has been absent from the show, announcing in January that she was taking time off for a family health matter.
She posted on Instagram then, “Hi everybody…I sincerely appreciate all of you who have reached out while I’ve been absent from the show. I want to share with you that I’m taking time to deal with a family health matter. It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have not only the support of my Today show family, but also to all of you. Your kindness means so much to me. I’ll see you soon. Love, Sheinelle.”
Guthrie told viewers, “Two years ago, when Sheinelle completed her first marathon, Uche was there at the finish line, his pride evident in his beaming smile, just as she cheered him on when he completed a triathlon, little moments that captured the essence of their partnership.”