Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager are reflecting on how the suspected abduction of their co-star Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, changed the dynamics on the set of Today.
After Nancy, 84, disappeared from her Arizona home February 1, the co-anchors of the NBC morning show were ready to show their support for Savannah amid the highly publicized search for her mother.
Jones, the co-host of Jenna & Sheinelle, told Page Six in a recent interview that it was a no-brainer to show support for Savannah, especially after the anchor had helped her following the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh, from glioblastoma in May 2025.
“We’re going to rally around our sister,” Jones, 48, told the outlet. “She rallied around me. We know how to do that here.”
She said, “It continues to bond us in ways we can’t even describe or make sense of.”
It has been more than 100 days since Nancy vanished from her Tucson-area home in the middle of the night in what police believe was an abduction. Drops of her blood were found at the home, along with her phone and the heart medication she needs daily.
No suspect has been publicly identified in the case, and there has been no indication as to whether or not Nancy is still alive. The case has not had an update in several weeks, despite police and Nancy’s family offering a reward of more than $1.2 million for information.
After the news of Nancy’s disappearance, Savannah took a two-month leave of absence from the Today show to help search for her mother alongside her siblings.
Her broadcast colleagues stepped up to fill in for Savannah on the show, including Jones — who had just become the co-host of the fourth hour of Today two weeks before Nancy’s disappearance.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
“In any other matrix, it would’ve just been about us and the show,” Jones said. “But we didn’t have time for that. I didn’t have time to worry about my hair or whether I was being funny. Real life was happening.”
Hager told the outlet, “Every day we were thinking about her. How could we not talk about it? It was what was happening off camera.”
Savannah returned to the Today anchor desk April 6. Jones said about her return at the time: “It’s our turn to wrap our arms around her.”
“What people don’t know, what a lot of people don’t realize, is that behind the scenes, Savannah is our glue,” Jones said. “We call her our light.”