Sheinelle Jones is sharing how she’s dealing with the loss of her husband, Uche Ojeh.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Jones revealed just how hard 2025 has been.
“I don’t even think I understood fully what it would feel like to not have him,” Jones said. She noted that “not being able to text him when she boards a plane, that hit her the hardest.” Ojeh passed in May, at just 45 years old, from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“It’s the life after where you really feel the loss,” she explained.
College sweethearts and married for 17 years, Jones and Ojeh shared three children, son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche Jr, both 13.
“My kids lost their dad at 13 and 16,” Jones said. “But I try to tell them they got more in those years than some people get in a lifetime.”
Jones said she received her first “win,” without Ojeh by her side, with the launch of TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle.
“People see me on TV, and they think ‘Oh, she’s better.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, no no. I’m not better.’ Every day, it’s like swimming through mud,” says Jones. “I’ve had to really do the work. Empathy is my superpower now, and I recognize that I hold two things: I hold my grief, and I also hold this joy.
Jones continued, “I said it months ago, and I’ll say it now: I am fighting for my joy.”
She described her new role as her “dream job.”
“Jenna and I look at each other, and we’re safe. If I fall, she’s going to pick me up and vice versa,” Jones shared. “If I told you the depth of my groans and tears just months ago to one of the best days of my life here today, you couldn’t even write it.”
Jones credits prayer and her faith with helping her through the stages of grief.
“Not once did I think I was going to lose him,” Jones said. “When you’re a woman of faith, you realize that you’re praying for an outcome. And then if the outcome doesn’t come, then what? That’s when I’ve really had to dig deep and realize that maybe I just don’t fully understand. I know God loves me, and I know God loves [Uche]. And I know God loves my children and our families, so like, why is this happening? I still don’t know if I have the answer, but I have peace that passes all understanding. That’s a Bible verse. It doesn’t mean that it’s easier. It doesn’t mean that my grief is not excruciating.”