His wife, Lisa Wilkinson, left Channel Nine and her role as co-host on The Today Show.
And it seems there’s no bad blood, with Peter FitzSimons heading into a meeting with Channel Nine today.
The 56-year-old made the admission when talking to Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa, when asked if he was replacing veteran presenter Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin on the revamped NRL Footy Show.
Is he replacing Fatty? Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons (pictured) reveals he has a meeting with Channel Nine after veteran presenter Paul Vautin was dumped from the NRL Footy Show
‘The funny thing is, I’m going into Channel Nine this morning,’ Peter said.
‘So I’ll see which way the wind is blowing.’
‘Cause I do a sports show with Emma Freedman of course, on Sunday morning,’ he added, before abruptly cutting off the chat.
What’s next for him? Pictured is veteran presenter Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin
The hosts were laughing as they asked the question, implying it could be a joke.
During the interview, Peter was trying to dodge questions about Lisa – after she left her coveted role on The Today Show.
He did however say he was ‘proud to be Mr Wilkinson,’ and it was nice to have her back at home.
Lisa announced she was quitting the Today show on Monday after demanding the Nine Network pay her the same salary as co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Awlward! During the interview, Peter was trying to dodge questions about Lisa – after she left her coveted role on The Today Show
But on Wednesday, Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks hit back, telling The Daily Telegraph that the network walked away from Lisa because she has ‘commercial contracts’ with rival companies that restricted their complete access to her.
Marks also revealed he went ‘to incredible amount of trouble to build’ a $1.8 million package for the TV star, but she demanded $2.3 million, $300,000 more than co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Hinting at why the network wouldn’t offer her the same amount of money as co-host Karl, he added: ‘I hate the fact we have to compare her with Karl but with him we have those rights (to complete access). With Lisa, we do not.’
Moving on: Lisa announced she was quitting the Today show on Monday after demanding the Nine Network pay her the same salary as co-host Karl Stefanovic
Lisa is the editor-at-large of Huffington Post Australia – a competitor of Nine’s digital news sites – and The Telegraph claims that deal had ’caused increasing friction’.
He told The Daily Telegraph that Lisa’s Huffington Post deal ‘restricts [Nine’s] ability to engage with her digitally’.
Another unnamed Channel Nine Executive told the publication point blank: ‘Karl is worth more money. That’s just a fact.’
Shortly after news of Lisa’s exit sent shock waves through the Australian media industry, the veteran journalist was revealed as a new host of Ten’s The Project.
New gig: Shortly after news of Lisa’s exit sent shock waves through the Australian media industry, the veteran journalist was revealed as a new host of Ten’s The Project