December 09, 2025
Nathan Congleton/NBC
Philly native and former 'Good Day Philadelphia' anchor Sheinelle Jones was picked to permanently co-host the final hour of NBC's 'Today' show with Jenna Bush Hager. Above, Jones greets the crowd in 2017.
Sheinelle Jones, a Philly native and onetime anchor of "Good Day Philadelphia," was picked to permanently fill Hoda Kotb's vacancy as Jenna Bush Hager's co-host for the final hour of NBC's "Today" show.
After Kotb left in January, the title changed to "Today with Jenna & Friends" and the show cycled through dozens of guest co-hosts — including Scarlett Johansson, Amy Poehler, Michelle Obama, Tyra Banks and Andy Cohen. While Jones, 47, has been on the third hour of the morning program, she also tested her chemistry with Hager in the guest co-host seat earlier this year. "Jenna & Sheinelle" will debut at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, Hager announced on air Tuesday.
Jones joined NBC in 2014 as host on "Weekend Today" before she moved to the weekday shows in 2019. She is also the host of "Wild Child," a live-action nature and wildlife show for kids.
In January, she temporarily stepped away from the network to care for her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, following his diagnosis with brain cancer. He died in May, and she returned to "Today" in September.
Jones was born in Philadelphia and moved to Wichita, Kansas, during her childhood. She said she always wanted to be on the news, and even had headshots of the anchors and reporters in her hometown.
"They say God has bigger dreams for you than you can dream for yourself," Jones said during a prerecorded segment on Tuesday's broadcast. "I look back on my career and it was just like one market at a time, you know, things just kept happening. And so to now have a show like this, it's beyond my wildest dreams. This is the real deal."
After graduating from Northwestern University, Jones worked in broadcast journalism at WICS in Illinois and KOKI-TV in Oklahoma. From there, she returned to Philadelphia to co-host the "Good Day Philadelphia" morning show on FOX 29 with Mike Jerrick.
Hager said she's known Jones for a decade and the change will be a "a beautiful chapter in this show."
"She's an extraordinary broadcaster, but more importantly, she exemplifies exactly what this show is all about," Hager said.
