Exclusive: Former Today presenter Alex Cullen signs with Seven after $50,000 controversy at Nine

Six months after THAT Adrian ‘Lambo guy’ Portelli scandal, Alex Cullen has opened up for the first time about the brutal fallout, and confirms his new TV role.

Former Today presenter Alex Cullen discusses the controversy that nearly ended his career and reveals his return to television.

Stellar: You’ve packed up your life in Sydney to move your family – wife Bonnie, twin daughters Audrey and Evie, 6, and son Max, 3 – to Melbourne, where you start a new job on The Christian O’Connell Show tomorrow morning. That is, well, a lot. How’s it going?

Alex Cullen: It’s absolute chaos. But you’ve just got to go with it. It’s kind of therapeutic, getting rid of things that you’ve held onto for so long; surreal, to be honest. I had a moment a few days ago. I went: we’re actually doing this. We’re actually moving our family interstate. We’ve built up to it for so long. It’s upon us, and I can’t wait.

Listen to the full interview with Alex Cullen on the Stellar podcast, Something To Talk About:

Former Today presenter Alex Cullen discusses his departure from Nine and new role at Seven in a Stellar exclusive. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Stellar: Your daughters are in kindergarten so will be starting at a new school. Who is more nervous about the first day: the twins or you?

Alex Cullen: All of us, but I think the girls are gonna be OK because they’ve got each other. They’re in the same class, which is quite nice. Max, I’m a little bit more worried about. He’s a very emotional little guy.

The other night in the bath, he burst out crying, saying, “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay. I don’t want to go to Melbourne.” We’re like, “Oh, Maxie … it’s gonna be great.” You think they don’t notice, but they do.

Stellar: The radio show starts at 6am. You were on breakfast TV for five years as a sports and news presenter on Today. Can you just not stop yourself from having to set the alarm at an ungodly hour?

Alex Cullen: I know. I’ve had people say, “What are you doing? Wasn’t that enough getting up at 3.30am?” Look, it’s going to be tough. But I live for it. I’m going to be able to talk about sport – one of my great passions – and I’m going to the sporting capital of the world, really. I can’t wait to get back into it.

Stellar: And you’ve also got some news about returning to television soon. We can exclusively reveal that you are joining 7News. What can you tell us about that role?

Alex Cullen: It’s really exciting. It’s been in the works for a little while, and it’s wonderful to be going back to Seven. I had 16 years at Seven [on news, Sunrise and current affairs show Sunday Night] and a lot of the people I worked with during that time are still there.

After everything went down [at Nine this year], Seven were one of the first on the phone to say: “You have our support, and if you want to come back, we’re a phone call away.” I can’t tell you how much that meant to me and my family.

Seven are adding some news offerings to their daytime line-up, and I’m going to be part of that. There are going to be different roles, different shows, different capacities.

I’m looking forward to getting back into it, just connecting with people, telling their stories. It’s not very nice being the story. It’s better telling the story.

‘It as the hardest, toughest week of my career.’ Alex Cullen on THAT ‘Lambo guy’ scandal. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Stellar: You found yourself at the centre of one of the biggest news stories of the year …

Alex Cullen: Huge. Yeah.

Stellar: This was in January, when you referred to Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli – better known as “Lambo guy” – as “McLaren man”, a nickname he was trying to popularise. He offered $50,000 to the first reporter or presenter who used the nickname on air, which proved to be you. Portelli later shared a screenshot of a bank transfer of that amount to your account, and in the following days, you were stood down from Today while Nine reviewed the incident. Soon after, it was announced you were leaving the network. This is the first time you’ve spoken about it. How did it feel to be in the eye of that storm?

Alex Cullen: It was the hardest, toughest week of my career. Never in a million years did I expect that all to go down. Luckily I had my family with me. I don’t think I would have really got through it without them. That week was a whirlwind, like, is this really happening? And it absolutely was. And I had to get through it because, get this, it was the girls’ sixth birthday in the middle of that week. So [I] had to put on this brave face for them, make everything OK and happy. So we’re getting the balloons and cake and streamers with all this going on in the background. You’ve just got to do it as a parent. You know, you try to shield your kids from what’s going on. Did they know what was going on? I think they did.

They saw me on the phone, pacing, trying to survive it all. But you’ve just got to put one foot in front of the other. It’s a little clichéd, but it’s true. My wife was a pillar of strength.

My friends, as well. And I can’t tell you the support I was getting from viewers, from people on social media; it was quite overwhelming. For [people] to come up to me, sometimes in the street, [asking], “How are you doing? Are you OK?” That’s all people have to say. That’s a really nice thing. I did a function recently and [Seven’s director of news and current affairs] Ray [Kuka] said, “Mate, I hope you’re doing OK. Just promise me one thing. You just keep being you.” And I just went, “Oh wow, I will.”

Alex Cullen and his wife, Bonnie. Picture: Instagram

Picture: WireImage

Stellar: Were there moments when “being you” was difficult?
Alex Cullen: Definitely. You question your judgement; you question everything. You’re like, why did I do [that]? How did I get in this situation? I mean, I know how. But you just think, you idiot … Your confidence is shot. So you’ve got to reset yourself. I went to some dark places. Everything you work towards – everything you love and know – is suddenly gone. You’re like, whoa. OK, what now? That was a hard pill to swallow. I thought, I’m out now. There’s no way I’m getting back in. It was a difficult time.

Listen to the full interview with Alex Cullen on Something To Talk About:

How do you characterise what happened on air that day? Do you think of it as a mistake?

It was a silly mistake, one I should have thought through. But I can’t go back and change any of it. It’s there for [all] to see. But I have a chance now to rewrite the next chapter.

What has the reaction been from your peers in the industry over the past six months?

I’ve had a lot of messages of support from people in the media and former colleagues, too, which is really special, but you learn a lot about yourself and the people around you – the people who are there for you and the ones that aren’t. That’s quite a learning curve. You’re like, Oh, OK, they haven’t reached out. That’s fine. That’s OK.

Are you at peace with how your relationship with Nine ended?

I am. Nine made their decision. I made mine. I don’t harbour any negative thoughts. That’s not good for me or anyone. I choose to look back on my time at Nine as a really great time. I got to sit in that chair each morning and shoot the breeze, talk about sport and life and travel the country. But I’m looking forward now. I’m ready for what comes next.

Alex Cullen breaks his silence in today’s Stellar. Picture: Stellar

‘I’ve sort of had to learn from [him].’ Cullen on former colleague, Karl Stefanovic.

In the days after it all went down, Nine confirmed that the money had been returned, and Portelli said he donated it to the RSPCA and the Salvation Army. Have you spoken to him since? How are things between the two of you now?

We had a really good conversation – it might have been a month or two after – and he was very respectful, very honest. He felt bad about what had transpired, and I assured him: “Hey, it was me standing there that morning saying those words. Don’t feel bad about it.” We left it at that. It was important we did talk, because it was a pretty seismic moment in my life.

Very few people find themselves in the eye of media storms in the way you did. What’s your advice for anyone in a similar situation?

Exercise. Long walks. A run. That’s the elixir; nature is a big one. And I strongly advise people to meditate.

I discovered it from this experience. It makes such a difference. You’re shutting yourself off from negative thoughts that are so overwhelming.

And lean on those around you. Like family. I couldn’t have done it without Bonnie. She is this amazing, smart, compassionate, fiery redhead – I’m terrified of her – who’s the toughest person I know. And try to get perspective. You’re going to be OK. People are often in a lot worse situations. We live in a great country. We have running water, we have electricity. We’re doing all right.

Your profile has skyrocketed this year. You’ve worked alongside very famous people, such as Karl Stefanovic – who can’t walk through an airport without people coming up to him. How do you feel about the shift in your level of recognition?

It’s quite the change. Luckily I’ve had someone like Karl to listen to on that front. His ability to not let it faze him is amazing; I remember walking at the Australian Open one year after the Noosa stuff had gone down. Journos were trying to get to him, and he just wasn’t engaging.

I’m thankful I [had] those five years [on Today] with him; he was supportive throughout that. We had a great chat after it all happened, and he congratulated me.

I’ve sort of had to learn from [him]: I know it gets to him in some capacity, but he’s like, “Who cares?” a lot of the time. He’s right. People are busy. And it does pass eventually.

Let’s rewind to your life before that now infamous moment in January. How much do you recognise the Alex Cullen from the start of the year compared to the one here today?

It’s wild. I’ve got to step back sometimes and go, this is happening. I come from north-west New South Wales. I grew up on a farm. Never did I think I’d be doing this. It’s crazy. I’m really thankful for the people who believed in me, knew what I could do [and gave] me another shot.

Christian O’Connell is great. He rang me out of the blue. We’re on the phone for nearly an hour – my wife is going, “Who’s this? What’s going on in there?” I came out and said, “Christian wants me to fly to Melbourne and meet the team.”

We go to lunch. We had wine. More wine. More again. At the end, he’s like, “Do you want to do this?” I’m like, “Yeah, let’s make it happen.” Little did I know it was a job interview with a whole lot of red wine thrown in! And then Seven … same kind of thing. You’ve just got to go with it. That’s what I’m trying to do.

Listen to the full interview with Alex Cullen on Something To Talk About:

You might not be able to answer this now, but when we’re in the middle of pivotal moments, they can feel like the best thing that’s happened to us. They can also feel like the worst. Ultimately, are you glad that incident happened? Or do you wish it never had?

It’s funny, I haven’t come to an answer on that yet. You know, do I regret it? I’m gonna see how the next little while goes. What I do regret is the pain it caused my family.

That was hard – the uncertainty, not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from [or] how I’m going to support my family. That’s a very difficult place to be.

There’s nothing I can do about it now. In another year’s time, I’ll have a better answer for you. I promise.

Alex Cullen begins tomorrow on The Christian O’Connell Show, weekdays from 6am on Melbourne’s Gold 104.3; 7pm weeknights on the Gold network.

Listen to the full interview with Alex Cullen now on Something to Talk About, and read the full story in Stellar out today, inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (SA).

For more from Stellar, click here.

Originally published as Exclusive: Former Today presenter Alex Cullen signs with Seven after $50,000 controversy at Nine