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Schoenell Jones is open about navigating her grief and why it was important for her to keep her husband’s brain tumor journey private before his death.
Today’s co-host, 47, was marked almost four months after the death of her husband, Uuche Ogier, returning to her morning show on Friday, September 5th, in a pre-tape conversation with Savannah Guthrie. The two discussed losses, hopes and family before Jones sat down with her colleagues today and detailed her decision to keep health news private.
“Some people may be watching, but they say, ‘Why didn’t you share it?’ “Why did she hold this so long?” And what I say to you is that Ushu was intensely private, but he didn’t,” Jones said.
“He wasn’t on Instagram, he wasn’t on Facebook, and when he got this diagnosis he asked me, he said, ‘I want to treat this personally.’ And he had been protecting us and our children for many years, so it was my turn to protect them. ”
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Jones’ husband passed away in May after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain tumor. He was 45 years old. She has been on a long vacation since December 2024.
As Jones explained in the air, her husband was also “very faithful,” so she came up with a moment of “becoming faithful.”
“And we respected that,” she said. “That’s why I feel comfortable talking now,” she added, detailing that she and her late husband “experienced the best of humanity” during her castration during his cancer journey.
Jones described the experience as a “beautiful nightmare” for Guthrie.
She recalls her time at the hospital with Auger, saying, “We just hold our hands, nurses come in and they call us the ‘bird of love’. And we look at each other and say, “I love you”… I mean “a beautiful nightmare.” It was beautiful for humanity. ”
In a conversation with Guthrie, she said she had known about her husband’s diagnosis for over a year before taking leave from the show.
“I’m not forged it. My joy is true.” I was on TV with this for almost a year,” she shared. “I’ll do the show and then I’ll jump into the car during chemotherapy and go with him.”
From the start, Jones said he thought his husband would pull out.
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“I believed he was okay. I knew it would be difficult, but we all believed he was okay,” she said.
Jones initially told fans in an Instagram post in January that he had taken time away from the show “to deal with family health,” thanking “Today Show Family” for “Today Show Family” and “Friendly.” A few months later, on May 23, Jones’ co-host announced that her 18-year-old husband had passed away.
Jones and Ogier were married for nearly 20 years.
They met at Northwestern University in the late 90s. At that time, Jones (the then-freshman) offered to show Ojeh, a senior at a visiting high school around campus. The couple shares three children: Kayin, 16, and Twins Clara and Uche (13).
Sheinelle Jones/ Instagram
Jones said that her husband’s faith kept him strong throughout Ogier’s journey.
“I saw him in his toughest moments, his faith has given him peace,” Jones shared. “So, “Well, if Uche can have faith, when his life is on the line, I certainly can and certainly I can.”
