Sheinelle Jones is heaping praise upon her Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
Guthrie recently returned to the NBC morning show following a two-month absence during the search for her missing mother, Nancy, and Jones said her colleagues were more than ready to welcome her back.
“It’s our turn to wrap our arms around her,” Jones, 47, told People in an interview published Wednesday.
She went on to speak about how Guthrie, 54, supported her amid her husband Uche’s death after his brain cancer diagnosis, saying: “She is my sister. Everyone knows how she was there for me at the lowest moment of my life.”
“What people don't know, what a lot of people don't realize, is that behind the scenes, Savannah is our glue. We call her our light,” Jones said.
The Today with Jenna & Sheinelle co-anchor said that after Uche’s death, Guthrie helped Jones’ children navigate their loss by drawing on her own father’s death, which occurred when she was just a teenager.
“She took her pain from losing her father at a young age, and not only did she help me and lift me up, but she has been such a gift to my kids,” Jones told the outlet.
She added, “Hoda [Kotb] said it on the show — when any of us is down, Savannah's usually the first call. For Uche's first brain surgery, she was there that day. She was there,” says Jones. “So now? Are you kidding me? If I can wrap my arms around her, I couldn't hug her any tighter.”
Guthrie returned to the anchor desk April 6, and gave a subtle nod to her family by wearing yellow. The color has become a symbol of hope throughout the search for 84-year-old Nancy.
Nancy disappeared from her Arizona home February 1, sparking a grueling ongoing search that has now lasted over 11 weeks. Police believe Nancy, 84, was abducted from her home in the middle of the night.
No suspects have been publicly identified in the case.
Last month, Guthrie told Kotb the search for her mom has been “agonizing” in an emotional sit-down interview. She also addressed her return to Today, saying at the time: “It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness and I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not.
“But I can’t not come back because it’s my family,” she said. “I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I’ll say so.”
She said during her first show back that it felt “good to be home.”
Jones said that the Today show crew is still remaining hopeful as the search for Nancy continues. She said: “We're so, so proud of Savannah, and we're rooting for her resiliency. And we're still praying, and we still have hope.”
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