BREAKING Uche Ojeh dead: Today show's Sheinelle Jones' husband dies aged 45 after brain cancer

Uche Ojeh - the husband of Today show anchor Sheinelle Jones - has died after a battle with brain cancer. Uche was just 45-years-old at the time of his death, and the sad news was announced on the TODAY show.

Sheinelle had stepped away from her role on the NBC morning show back in December for what she said was a family health matter. Savannah Guthrie announced the sad news during the live show this morning.

She was in tears as she said on TODAY: "With profound sadness, we share this morning that Uche Ojeh, the husband of our friend and TODAY co-host Sheinelle Jones, has passed away after a courageous battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma. There are no words for the pain we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children."

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Praising Uche and their family, she added: "Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him. And so we want to take a moment to tell you more about the remarkable man who was Sheinelle’s perfect partner in life."

Back in January, Sheinelle addressed why she was missing from the show as concerned fans rallied around her.

"I sincerely appreciate all of you who have reached out while I’ve been absent from the show. I want to share with you that I’m taking time to deal with a family health matter," she told fans who had been concerned about her..

"It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have not on the support of my Today show family, but to also have all of you. Your kindness means so much to me. I’ll see you soon."

Sheinelle and Uche - who have son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12, together - got married in 2007. They met years before at Northwestern University in Chicago, where she pretended to be a fake tour guide to spend more time with him.

“I was a fake tour guide. I was just walking to class. I was like, ‘Are you guys lost?’ And I told him I would take him around because he was cute," she said last year of how they had met years back.

Writing about their sweet bond, TODAY said "the essence of Sheinelle and Uche’s partnership was captured in small gestures and loving celebrations of victories, big and small". They recalled how two years ago, Sheinelle ran the New York City Marathon for the first time and Uche was there to cheer her along. A few weeks later, Uche did a Triathalon.

Concluding their poignant message for Uche, they wrote: "The TODAY family is honouring the life of Uche, a devoted husband, loving father and a man whose bright spirit touched everyone who knew him."

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on , , , , , and .