"Why is mine such a big deal?”: Karl Stefanovic slams speculation about his divorce
Karl Stefanovic has opened up about his divorce and admitted he doesn’t understand why it was “such a big deal”.
He left his wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, in 2016 and the pair finalised their divorce a year later.
It was just five months later that Stefanovic started a relationship with Jasmine Yarbrough, who he married in December 2018.
The divorce and new relationship affected his popularity, especially with female viewers of the Today show and after months of pressure, Stefanovic was sacked at the end of 2018.
“Personally, it was a bit hard because I thought a lot of people do go through relationship difficulties and, unfortunately, for me that was in a very public way, but that’s what happens when you’re a public person,” Stefanovic told Neil Mitchell on 3AW yesterday.
“But I thought, ‘Well hang on, a lot of people go through this, and why is mine such a big deal?’ I still don’t know why it was.
“I got divorced, I did find love again, and I’m sorry if people are offended by that, but it’s made me really happy.”
Stefanovic explained that he spent a year in exile and said he went through some “genuinely black times”.
“Look, my life hasn’t been that difficult, and I think there are people out there who have far worse going on … so I’m not going to rabbit on about how difficult my life was,” he said. “But there was certainly periods where I thought, ‘Oh my god, all I’ve ever done is really work hard and try and do the best I could for a show or network’. And then I thought, ‘Well, hang on a second, how have I got it so wrong?’”
Things didn’t stay dark for Stefanovic for long as he’s back on the Today show alongside Allison Langdon, who he says is handling the pressure “incredibly well”.
“It’s a difficult job and she’s handled all the pressure incredibly well,” he said.
“I think that the most difficult thing … something that Lisa Wilkinson did incredibly well and still does, is just be able to converse on air like you’re having a cup of coffee with someone. Allison has got that … She’s able just to talk freely about things, and that’s difficult to do on air.”
Stefanovic isn’t worried about the dip in ratings either, as rival breakfast show Sunrise continues to dominate with 269,000 viewers last week.
“It doesn’t really worry me at this point because we have to get chemistry right first, we have to get content of the show right first. Having a look now is like opening a Christmas present weeks before Christmas,” he said.
“I know we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Stefanovic continued. “Come Easter I think we’ll have a pretty good idea on how we’re going.”