After months of speculation, Karl Stefanovic has finally been dumped from the Today show.
The news was announced on Wednesday, with Channel Nine confirming that the 44-year-old was parting ways with the breakfast program after almost 14 years in the role.
It comes just one day after his younger brother Peter Stefanovic abruptly exited the network ‘to explore new opportunities.’
‘For the last 14 years I’ve co-hosted the best show on television. I can’t thank Nine enough for the opportunity. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be good enough to host this grand show for so long,’ Karl told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.
‘Thanks to our viewers mostly, you are what matters most. It’s been a tough time. Thanks for hanging in there. I look forward to seeing you in another capacity at this great Network soon.’
Karl Stefanovic leaves the Today show: Embattled Channel Nine star has been dumped from breakfast TV show after months of plummeting ratings and a ‘PR disaster’ wedding
Meanwhile, Darren Wick, Director of News and Current Affairs at Channel Nine, confirmed that Karl would be staying with the network and will continue to to host This Time Next Year.
‘Nine and Karl Stefanovic have agreed it is time for him to step off the Today Show. Karl remains on contract with the network and will continue to host This Time Next Year, which records in February,’ Wick said.
‘For over 14 years Karl has been at the centre of the Today Show bringing his unique personality and perspective to the day’s news and current affairs.
‘An announcement on the new line up and format of the Today Show will be made in the coming weeks.’
Rumours have swirled for months that Karl was on his way out at Nine due to negative headlines surrounding his personal life.
Amid a blaze of negative headlines, Karl’s divorce, his new marriage and his attitude towards colleagues, have tarnished his public image.
As a result, the Today show has nosedived in the ratings, plunging to a 12-year low in recent months.
The start of the program’s downward spiral can be traced back to September 2016, when it emerged Karl had separated from his wife and the mother of his three children, Cassandra Thorburn.
Double dump! The 44-year-old’s departure comes just one day after his younger brother Peter Stefanovic (L) abruptly exited the network ‘to explore new opportunities’
A few months after the split, Karl began dating former-model-turned-shoe-designer Jasmine Yarbrough, who is nine years his junior.
The pair were married during a lavish four-day wedding in Mexico earlier last weekend.
In the months following his split with Cassandra, market research by Channel Nine reportedly showed that Karl’s popularity with female viewers was plummeting.
Past and present: Karl split with Cassandra (left) in 2016 after 21 years of marriage, before finding love with shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough (right), who is nine years his junior
Entertainment journalist Peter Ford said last year: ‘The Today show ratings are bad. At the moment they’ve done private market research at Nine into Karl and it’s coming up that women have turned on him.’
Today’s ratings have been declining steadily since Karl began dating Jasmine in late 2016, recently hitting that humiliating 12-year low.
In March, Peter and Karl were embroiled in the now infamous Ubergate scandal after their private phone conversation in a taxi was leaked to New Idea magazine.
In the ‘b**chy’ 45-minute phone conversation, Peter complained about his role on Weekend Today while Karl ‘angrily’ complained about hsi Today show co-host Georgie Gardner, saying she needed to ‘step up… if she wanted to stay on the [Today] show.’
However, Karl’s scandals on Today started earlier that year, beginning with a controversial segment in which the journalist used the word ‘tranny’ multiple times on-air, which is generally considered to be a slur among the transgender community.
Plunging: Today’s ratings have been declining steadily since Karl began dating Jasmine in late 2016, recently hitting that humiliating 12-year low
The star did a live cross to Today show reporter Christine Ahern in Rio after her security guard was ‘clocked in the head’ by a transvestite who tried to wrangle a camera from the television crew in Copacabana.
Christina said her cameraman, Glen Edwards, was so afraid to tell the boss he had lost a camera that he ‘held on’ during the attempted robbery which prompted Karl to make a joke that he was ‘no stranger to the ways of the tranny’ and had ‘fought off tougher trannies’.
Karl also presented a wanted poster with an image of Hugo Weaving in drag from the iconic Australian film ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ which he suggested could be the would-be thief.
Scandal: In 2016, Karl used the word ‘tranny’ multiple times on-air, which is generally considered to be a slur among the transgender community. He later issues an on-air apology
After intense social media backlash, the Channel Nine host was forced to make a public apology.
‘Well as we all know I can be a complete tool. Well yesterday I was worse I was an ignorant tool – and when I say ignorant I truly mean it,’ he said.
The apparent frontrunner to take Karl’s job is Adelaide newsreader Brenton Ragless, who is currently filling in for his newly-married colleague on Today.
Reports in both The Australian and The Advertiser on Monday suggested that Brenton, 42, could end up permanently filling Karl’s spot if ratings don’t improve next year.
In early December, the Today show’s executive producer Mark Calvert abruptly left the program, announcing he was ‘stepping down’ after ‘five rollercoaster years.’
Flashback: Karl joined the network back in 2000 as a reporter for National Nine News in Brisbane, before joining the Today show as co-host in 2005
Peter’s brother Karl Stefanovic has also been the subject of speculation he could be ‘axed’ from the Today show in 2019, following two years of declining ratings.
In September, Nine chief executive Hugh Marks revealed that Karl’s job was safe for now, but said that everyone on the show – ‘especially Karl’ – needed to lift their game.
Karl joined the network back in 2000 as a reporter for National Nine News in Brisbane.
He replaced Steve Liebmann as the host of the Today show in 2005, and won the coveted Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality in 2011.
Golden boy: In 2011, Karl took home the coveted Gold Logie award for Most Popular Personality