Peter Stefanovic: “Why I call Karl all the time”
Love it or hate it, Karl Stefanovic has his own unique interviewing style – and even his brother has been Peter has been calling him from advice after Nine announced earlier this week he would be taking the reins at Weekend Today, alongside old friend Allison Langdon.
Despite having plenty of experience in his own right – from being a former US correspondent for Nine and a 60 Minutes reporter – Peter told Nine.com.au that he still calls his brother for advice.
“He’s a great mentor for me, Karl, he tells me things to work on or things I can do better or things that might not be working or how to move to different levels. He’s a good brother and a good man …” he said.
“I’m always calling him for advice on how to do things better.
“It’s a great network and a great show that we work for and there are opportunities to improve yourself as a broadcaster and he’s as good as anybody in the country so why wouldn’t I pick his brain … after all, I’ve got a little bit of an ‘in’ there!”
Asked what Karl has taught him, Peter says, “You’ve got to bring the energy – that’s something Karl has taught me, no one wants to watch someone who’s tired or slow in the morning you’ve got to be up, you gotta be bright, you gotta be smart, you gotta be witty!”
Peter says he loves the excitement of live TV.
“You’re exposed on live TV. You can’t do it again, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube if you say something, you have to back yourself,” he says.
“But it’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done – when you’ve got a big news story that’s breaking and you’re live in the studio, I’m yet to come across anything that is more thrilling other than being on the scene of a big story as a journalist.”
Peter also joked that now that he’s scored the hosting job on Weekend Today, the competition between the two brothers might heat up.
“He’s running the show five days a week,” he laughs, “and I’ll try and keep things going for the weekends!”