Sheinelle Jones accidentally name-drops her childhood ‘chain-smoking’ babysitter live on ‘Today’: ‘Can we take that out?’

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Sheinelle Jones accidentally revealed her chain-smoking childhood babysitter’s name while live on “Today.”

“I used to have a babysitter who would have Betty Boop all over the place,” the journalist told co-host Jenna Bush Hager during Thursday’s broadcast while discussing an upcoming Betty Boop movie. “Remember how people used to have those Betty Boop posters? She was an older lady. I remember she was a chain smoker.” 

“This was the ‘80s,” Bush Hager reassured the audience.

Jones, 48, then pretended to smoke a cigarette, while mimicking a gravelly voice. 

Sheinelle Jones accidentally name-dropped her chain-smoking childhood babysitter Thursday while live on “Today” (as pictured here). NBC
The NBC star (pictured here in 2023) detailed that her babysitter “was an older lady. I remember she was a chain smoker.” sheinelle_o/instagram

“She had a voice like this … sorry,” she stated. “Is that OK that I said that? That, and we would watch ‘Grease.’”

“Did you like her?” Bush Hager, 44, inquired, to which Jones said she “loved her” before unintentionally saying her name. 

The anchor quickly cover her mouth, asking, “Can we take that out? Oh shoot.”

Bush Hager tried to comfort Jones, saying that back then “everybody smoked. It was OK!”

The journalist (pictured here as a child with her mom, Sheila) added that she “loved” her babysitter before mistakenly saying her name. She quickly covered her mouth and asked, “Can we take that out? Oh shoot!” sheinelle_o/instagram
Jones (pictured here with her mom, Sheila, during childhood) grew up one of five sibling in Wichita, Kansas. sheinelle_o/instagram

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Jones insisted that, despite her sitter’s habit, she enjoyed their time together.

“We would watch ‘Grease’ and she would make me sandwiches and she had Betty Boop everywhere,” Jones reiterated.

She added with a laugh, “Let’s get back on topic.”

Jones grew up in Wichita, Kansas, with her parents C. Darnell and Sheila Jones — who are now divorced — and her four siblings.

The author attended Northwestern University, where she met her husband, Uche Ojeh (pictured here together in an Instagram upload). Sheinelle Jones /Instagram
Ojeh (pictured here with his wife in 2019) was married to Jones from 2007 until his death at age 45 last May after a battle with brain cancer. Getty Images for NAACP LDF

After graduating high school, the NBC star attended Northwestern University, where she met her husband, Uche Ojeh.

Jones and Ojeh tied the knot in 2007 and were married until the businessman’s death from cancer at age 45 last year.

The couple share three kids: Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old twins Clara and Uche Jr.

During their marriage, the couple welcomed three kids: Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old twins Clara and Uche Jr. (pictured here in a family shot). Sheinelle Jones /Instagram
In April, the television personality opened up about raising her kids (pictured here together in 2023) as a single mom. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

Jones recently detailed who she does lean on as a single mom.

“Here’s the truth — my co-workers have really been there for me in so many different ways,” she told Good Housekeeping in April. “Dylan [Dreyer] is a tough cookie with three boys, and when I’m feeling wishy washy, she gives me those eyes, and I can get it together.”

“Meanwhile,” Jones continued, “Hoda [Kotb] is the heart. She’s the one I can call about anything, and she’s the one who told me to put Clara in musical theater. They’ve been amazing, truly.”

“My co-workers have really been there for me in so many different ways,” the broadcast star (pictured here with Megyn Kelly, Carson Daly, Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and Kathie Lee Gifford in 2018) gushed. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
As Jones (pictured here with Roker, Guthrie, Kotb and Daly in 2023) put it, “They’ve been amazing, truly.” Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

She also credited her male co-workers for helping her see a healthy work-life balance.

“Al [Roker], he is my Mr. Miyagi,” Jones gushed. “He’s been there as a parent, and all of his kids have graduated. Willie [Geist] was at my first book event in Connecticut.”

She went on to note that Carson Daly was the first person she heard from after landing the gig on “Today.”

“Every single colleague has their own special little place in my heart,” she said, “and it’s not just the moms in my work life.”

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