Lisa Wilkinson reveals the truth about her co-host Karl Stefanovic – claiming he gave her the cold shoulder for over a week before she was dismissed
Lisa Wilkinson has lifted the lid her final days working on the Today show in her new autobiography, It Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This.
In an excerpt from the tell-all book, published by The Daily Telegraph, the 61-year-old spoke about her awkward final encounter with co-host Karl Stefanovic, while claiming that he’d given her the cold shoulder in the weeks prior to her stepping down.
The Project host explained that she and her husband Peter FitzSimons had invited Karl and his partner Jasmine Yarbrough to attend their 25 wedding anniversary vow renewal ceremony in October 2017.
Candid: Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) has lifted the lid her final days working on the Today show in her new autobiography, It Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This
Two days before the event, however, Karl and Jasmine contacted Lisa’s husband Peter to say they wouldn’t be attending the celebrations, as they’d extended their holidays abroad.
‘In the ten days since [the ceremony] Karl hadn’t contacted me, his co-host of almost eleven years, at all. No phone message, no text, no apology, not even a simple congrats. Just complete silence,’ Lisa wrote.
After returning to work, Lisa claimed Karl didn’t ask her ‘how was the holiday?’ and certainly no ‘sorry about that no-show at the wedding’. Not anything.”
Last day: In an excerpt from the tell-all book, published by The Daily Telegraph , the 61-year-old spoke about her awkward final encounter with co-host Karl Stefanovic (left) while claiming that he’d given her the cold shoulder in the weeks prior to her stepping down
‘For the next two hours, I exchanged not a single word with Karl outside of what was scripted – because for the first time, I just didn’t trust myself to ‘play nice’,’ she said.
Lisa went on to say she was also ‘quietly fuming because almost every interview that day was being done by Karl alone.’
‘For two hours, I sat there feeling completely useless. The Today Show was now The Karl Show. What was the point of me even being there?’
Invitation: The Project host explained that she and her husband Peter FitzSimons (left) had invited Karl and his partner Jasmine Yarbrough to attend their 25 wedding anniversary vow renewal ceremony in October 2017
Lisa also described the moment she was told she’d never return to the helm at Today, following after her first day back on-air after the holidays.
Lisa said she was shopping at her local Woolworths Supermarket when she received a phone call from her manager Nick Fordham, who had just finished a meeting with Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks.
He told her she was ‘off the Today show… Permanently off. Never to appear again. Today was your last day.’
No show: Two days before the event, however, Karl and Jasmine contacted Lisa’s husband Peter to say they wouldn’t be attending the celebrations, as they’d extended their holidays abroad
Lisa left Channel Nine’s Today show back in October 2017 after a reported gender pay gap dispute.
The Nine Network were ‘unable to meet her expectations’ after she demanded equal pay with co-host Karl.
In January the following year, Lisa joined rival network Ten’s The Project for a rumoured multi-million dollar pay packet.
Cold shoulder: After returning to work, Lisa claimed Karl didn’t ask her ”how was the holiday?’ and certainly no ‘sorry about that no-show at the wedding’. Not anything’