Late Show star Jon Batiste took time off to take care of his wife Suleika Jaouad amid her brave cancer battle.
Jon, known for being the nightly conductor and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has been absent from the program since May 2022.
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The 35-year-old musician spends most of his time caring for his wife, Suleika Jaouad.
The two revealed to CBS Sunday Morning that they got married in February 2022 in secret, just after Suleika was diagnosed with leukemia for a second time.
Suleika told correspondent Jim Axelrod: “We knew we wanted to get married, I think, from the first week we started dating.
“It was then that Jon first brought me the subject of marriage. So, we had eight years. It’s not, you know, a hasty decision!”
The 33-year-old author revealed they got married the day before she was admitted to hospital to undergo her bone marrow transplant.
After Jon confirmed to Axelrod they were married in February, he admitted their marriage was an act of “we have a future.”
He explained: “It’s an act of defiance. The darkness will try to catch up with you, but just turn on the light.
“Focus on the light. Hold on to the light.”
Suleika remarked that Jon had made it clear that he was not proposing because of her diagnosis.
She recounted that Jon said, “‘It took me a year to design your ring.
“So, just know this timing has nothing to do with it. But what I do want you to know is that this diagnosis does not change anything. It just makes it all the more clear to me that I want to commit to it and for us to be together. “
“But once we realized we had this little window before the bone marrow transplant, we decided to go for it,” Suleika told CBS Sunday Morning.
Struggle with leukemia
Suleika, a New York native, was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2011.
To fight the disease, Suleika underwent years of chemotherapy, enrolled for clinical trials and received a bone marrow transplant, before being declared cancer-free three years later.
In November 2021, however, the 33-year-old received the news that her cancer had returned – this time more aggressively.
Earlier this month, Jon opened up about his wife’s battle with leukemia and told PEOPLE it was going “better”.
He told the store: ‘We pray every day and continue with the – I mean, she’s amazing.
“You will not think she goes through what she is going through when you see her.
“She has this ability to tackle the toughest challenges and make it life-affirming. So, with her, it’s a special case. How it goes with her, it’s a Suleika thing.”
The couple got married in their new home, a place he described as ‘kind of a temple’, with only their closest relatives around them.
Moved to a new home
Suleika updated fans on April 22 with an Instagram post, revealing that she was finally discharged “after a two-week back in the hospital” for bone marrow transplant complications and settled in her new Brooklyn apartment.
She added: “Hope has felt dangerous to me in the past – and in some ways I remain a little wary of it.
“But to get past the fear and walk to hope is what I have to do. I want to lead a forward-thinking life, anchoring myself in the things that are true and good and beautiful.”
In another post, she shared a photo of her watercolor painting – allowing her to “get creatively involved in her circumstances.”
Jon also updated his followers on social media two weeks ago with a collection of photos.
I wrote the post: “Suleika and I are so grateful to be honored tonight by the @bklynbiblioteek for our musical and literary contributions!
“Although @suleikajaouad is unable to attend tonight, I am very happy to accept the award on our behalf and look forward to addressing the community tonight.”
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