Sheinelle Jones joined the Today Show family in 2014. She was eventually promoted to the show’s third hour. However, she took over as Hoda Kotb’s replacement on the show’s fourth hour earlier this year. In a new interview, she opened up about the “weird” link she has to her co-host’s famous father, years before they met on the talk show.
Sheinelle Jones Reveals ‘Weird’ Link To Co-Host’s Father
Sheinelle Jones has become close friends with her co-hosts, both on and off the screen. She praised Hoda Kotb for helping her through the difficult loss of her husband after he passed away in 2025 from brain cancer. Sheinelle Jones, Hoda Kotb, and the other hosts have been there for Savannah Guthrie amid her mother’s shocking disappearance. Sheinelle even did double-duty by hosting the early hours of the morning show, as well as her show with Jenna Bush Hager.
Since hosting Jenna & Sheinelle, the pair are closer than ever. Jenna Bush Hager brought up Sheinelle Jones’ feature in Philadelphia Magazine on Wednesday’s show. “Many people don’t — our fathers are connected, kind of,” Jenna Bush Hager told the audience.
Jenna Bush Hager’s father is, of course, former President George W. Bush. He served as the 43rd President of the United States, years after his father, George Bush, served as President a decade earlier.
“Her father [former president George W. Bush] nominated my father [C. Darnell Jones II] to the federal bench. So, my father’s a federal judge. He is — can you say retired when you’re a federal judge? I don’t know. … He ended up going through in the Obama years, but it was her father that put it in motion,” Sheinelle Jones explained.
Her father was one of over 300 federal judges George W. Bush nominated during his two terms. “Who could ever predict [that]? I think the world is a weird and wonderful place,” Jenna Bush Hager said about her surprising connection to her Today Show co-host.
She Details Today Show Jobs
Sheinelle Jones was on Good Day Philadelphia before joining the Today Show. She got her start on Weekend Today before moving up the ranks. She opened up to Philadelphia Magazine about how the first two hours compare to the third and fourth hours of the popular NBC show.
“If something happens in Venezuela, I’m talking about it. Then as we get closer to 9 o’clock, you start seeing celebrity guests; we might be talking about new movies or whatever the hot show is,” Sheinelle Jones told the magazine.
She added, “Then from 9 to 10, it’s like if news and a talk show had a baby. And for Jenna & Sheinelle in the fourth hour, it’s ‘Let’s sit down and talk a little bit and make you feel good.’”
Tell us your thoughts on the surprising connection between Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones in the comments.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
