Jones will be stepping up as the permanent cohost of the show’s fourth hour alongside Jenna Bush Hager.

Today cohosts give tearful goodbye to Sheinelle Jones ahead of new role: ‘Once a nonsense girl, always one’

Jones will be stepping up as the permanent cohost of the show's fourth hour alongside Jenna Bush Hager.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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January 2, 2026 1:19 p.m. ET

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Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer. Credit:

The cohosts of *3rd Hour of Today *dedicated a special, and tearful, moment during Friday's episode to pay tribute to fellow host Sheinelle Jones as she prepares for her new role: the permanent cohost of the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager.

During the episode, Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer made sure they gave Jones the warm send off deserving of her decade-long tenure as a member of the *Today* family.

"This will be her final show with us before she makes the move officially on January 12th," Melvin explained to viewers. "We wanted to toast her. And share a few – because there have been a slew but we will share a few of our favorite moments we have had together."**

Although Jones vowed there'd be "no crying," she was already tearing up as Roker kicked off the round of tributes.

Al Roker, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer give tearful goodbye to Sheinelle Jones.

"Here is the deal. We have been fortunate enough to have you with us but we also have been fortunate enough to see the people who have made you who you are, and I think nothing encapsulates that as much as this piece of video you shared," Roker told Jones before sharing a video of herself that the mother of three shared in 2024.

Featured in the Instagram reel are Jones' daughter Clara, her mother, and her grandmother getting read for a legacy dinner for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which all three adults pledged during their years at college.

Next up was Dreyer, who also became emotional as she began by telling Jones that she has "become such a dear friend of mine."**

"My laughter around you is so genuine and you have just been such an amazing friend to me for so many years. I mean years and years and years," Dreyer continued, with Jones adding that they've been friends "from day one."

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To showcase how quickly they clicked, Dreyer shared a clip of the pair from November 2018, in which Jones taught Dreyer to dance — set to Bruno Mars' hit song, "24K Magic" — and Dreyer taught her how to play golf.

"Neither one took," Roker quipped, as Jones and Dreyer giggled.

"Our camera operators were laughing so hard, their cameras were shaking," Dreyer recalled. "The laugher started before then. That's just one of many times I fell on the floor laughing with you. Thank you so much."

Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer on '3rd Hour Today'.

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Melvin took his turn, admitting that he couldn't look at Jones because he would start to cry if he did. "You are so real and authentic, on camera and off," he began. "When you share your monsters an you share your poetry with us and the world, I enjoy those moments. They make my heart smile."

And in honor of Jones' regular poem-sharing — the most recent of which was a Christmas poem ahead of the holidays — Melvin revealed that he wrote a poem in tribute of her time as a cohost.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

"To my sister in spirit," Melvin began. "In the glare of the cameras your light shines through, a sister, a leader, so fearless and true. You juggle the chaos. Three hearts call you mom, yet you walk into work with that grace and calm."

He continued, "The stories you tell come straight from the soul, authentic and kind — journalism's gold. The loss you endured the world also saw, yet still you rise daily, inspiring all. That smile could outshine the studio's gleam, the spark of resilience, hope and dream."

"Through laughter and tears, you've guided my way. Dear Sheinelle, my sister in spirit, you brighten each day," he finished, to Jones' tearful appreciation.

While Roker ribbed Melvin, who claimed it took him six hours to put the poem together, Jones hugged her cohosts and shared a few words of her own as they lifted their glasses to toast. "It has been my honor to be a part of the nonsense people," she shared. "I mean you know you have made it when you get like a cartoon that calls us the nonsense people. Once a nonsense girl, always one."

"You are not getting rid of me," she continued. "To you guys at home, thank you so much for all of it, for scaffolding me, the kids. We come in, we laugh and we're genuinely laughing. We tear up, like now. I mean just this has been like one of the best rides of my life with you guys."

Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones announced 'Today with Jenna & Sheinelle'.

Luckily, Jones will still be in the building! As of Jan. 12, Jones and Hager will join forces for the newly named show, *Today With Jenna & Sheinelle*. This will make Jones the first permanent cohost since Hoda Kotb departed the show at the start of this year.

Watch the *Today* cohosts' emotional send off for Jones above.**

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Source: “EW Talk”