Sheinelle Jones Is Back on 'TODAY' but Broadcasting From South Carolina

Fans of the TODAY show are thrilled to see a familiar face back. Sheinelle Jones has returned to the 3rd hour of TODAY show after taking six weeks off following vocal cord surgery to fix a lesion. Viewers are thrilled to have her face and voice back on air even remotely as COVID-19 measures to physically distance are in place, but there was one question on people’s minds: Why is Sheinelle Jones in South Carolina? 

Sheinelle Jones lives in New York with her three kids and husband, Uche. Since the TODAY show films in New York, it makes sense that’s where her home is. But viewers noticed that when Sheinelle came back on air after her surgery, she was broadcasting from South Carolina. To understand why, we need to go back to six weeks ago, before the coronavirus hit. 

Late February, Sheinelle underwent surgery to remove a lesion from her vocal cords which then required her to be on “vocal rest” for two weeks. When she shared with her viewers in February that she needs to undergo the surgery, she said the operation would allow her to speak more easily, after a long recovery period. "I finally got to a place where I just have to get it removed," she explained.

Thankfully, she updated her viewers after her surgery saying that all went well, and she was quickly in the recovery phase of it all. Recovery included two weeks of vocal rest and six weeks before she could be back on air. 

Although she didn’t make any announcement formally, Sheinelle decided to rest and recover outside of New York City and she and her family headed to South Carolina. 

Since Sheinelle underwent surgery, the coronavirus hit the United States and more states were placing stay-at-home orders. When she went back on air, viewers noticed she was broadcasting from South Carolina and since she’s from New York, people were curious. With people trying to flee New York because it’s one of the hardest hit states from COVID-19, there was concern that Sheinelle and her family disobeyed the orders. But, that’s not the case. 

Since Sheinelle was going to be off-air for six weeks, she and her family decided to recover at their home in South Carolina. Since there are many stay-at-home orders due to the pandemic, Sheinelle said that although she’s cleared to be back at work, she felt it was best to “just stay put” in South Carolina, especially since her co-anchors at TODAY are broadcasting from home, too, in order to maintain physical distance.  

Viewers have certainly missed Sheinelle's energy on the 3rd hour of TODAY, and it's been amazing to have her back, even if she's not able to be in the studio during this time. We're glad her recovery went well and we wish her continued good health.