As Sheinelle Jones officially joined Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, Jan. 12 for the premiere of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, the two co-hosts had a surprise appearance from one of the show's former hosts, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.
The two former Today co-hosts came out with a massive wine glass filled with fake flames, which they dubbed the "wine torch," passing it to Jones and Bush Hager.
"Can we just say how awesome you two look together? How amazing this day already is?" Kotb told the two tearful co-hosts.
Jones wiped away tears, telling Gifford, "First of all, you invented the genre, you really did," as Gifford quipped, "Is Kelly Ripa here?"
Jones recalled filling in for Kotb on past iterations of the show, saying, "I would just sit under your head. I'm like, 'Look, she has melanin too!"
The four women toasted with some rosé from Gifford's GIFFT brand, as Gifford assured Jones that she's a "pretty crier" and urged viewers to "lift up your wine at home!"
Kotb co-hosted Today with Hoda & Jenna from 2019 through her exit in Jan. 2025. The mother of two chose to step down from her role at Today to spend more time with her daughters, Haley Joy, 9, and Hope Catherine, 6, as well as focusing on her wellness app, Joy 101.
Prior to her time with Bush Hager, Kotb co-hosted Today with Kathie Lee & Hoda alongside Gifford. The pair were well-known for their morning antics, which included plenty of wine drinking.
Back in December when it was announced that Jones would be Bush Hager's new permanent co-host, Kotb called the pair a "match made in heaven" and took the time to call Jones and share some advice.
"She goes, 'Don't say anything, just listen,' " Jones shared of the phone call, adding that Kotb then imparted "45 seconds of wisdom that changed me."
"I'll give you one part of it," Jones added. "She said, 'You're gonna be doing graduation speeches and all that.' And she goes,'I promise you,' she goes,'let's remember this moment, you're gonna talk about how this was a moment that changed your career and it was the best decision, for your kids, for you. Working with Jenna, it's gonna be better than you could ever imagine,' " Jones shared.
Gifford was last on the show to surprise Kotb for her Jan. 2025 exit.
"I wasn't interested in coming back to daytime television after 15 years with the King [Regis Philbin]," she said of her hesitancy to originally join the program. "My problem is, I fall in love and I fell in love with Hoda."
It's been a year of highs and extreme lows for Jones, whose husband, Uche Ojeh, died of glioblastoma in May 2025 at the age of 45. On New Year's Eve, Jones's beloved grandmother, Josephine Vonceal Pace Brown, died suddenly.
"I keep telling my friends, I have reached my heartbreak quota for the next 75 years, so I am praying that 2026 and beyond is just sunshine and rainbows," Jones, 47,sharedin an Instagram video in the new year.