Sheinelle Jones is explaining why fans rarely see her kids.
During a recent episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, the Today co-host said she kept her three children out of the spotlight up until they visited her on set earlier this week.
“I’m a mama bear, a mama lion,” Jones said. “I’m very protective of them, so the pictures over the last year and a half that I’ve released or we show, they’re little.”
“So yesterday when they walked out, it was like, ‘Oh!’” she continued. “And even for me, it was like, ‘Look at these boys. They’re turning into young men.’ And Clara was so sweet. It was just one of the most special moments of my life.”
Jones shares her children — son Kayin and twins Clara and Uche — with her late husband, Uche Ojeh, who died in May 2025 at age 45 after being diagnosed with glioblastoma.
“We’ve just been through so much, and I could see in their faces that they’re proud of me,” she said. “You know, as moms, we don’t really get that.”
While they were on set earlier, her children took a moment to share how proud they are of their mom for penning new book, Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans,”
“Words can’t even describe it. I’m so happy for you, Mom,” Kayin told his mom. “You’ve worked on this since quarantine. We’ve had the ups and downs. I mean, I remember when you lost your computer, it broke even … We’ve obviously gone through so much and I’m so happy for you.”
Uche Jr. added, “I feel like her compassion and kindness to everybody she’s around just has such a great effect on everybody.”
Her daughter also weighed in on the book, saying she had already read it herself.
“It’s good!” the preteen shared. “I remember I was on the plane, and it was in her bag, and there were no TVs on the flight, her phone was dead. And I was like, ‘I want to read your book.’ So I read it and I actually really liked it. It was so good.”
