Clarke controversy the latest in rollercoaster life of Karl Stefanovic

A mate of Michael Clarke. The brother-in-law to Jade Yarbrough. Karl Stefanovic seems a magnet for controversy. If he’s not the centre of it, it swirls around him.

From Channel 9 golden boy to $2 million man on the outer and back again, with a highly-public divorce, the Ubergate affair in which he was recorded slamming colleagues, a Today show sidelining and a second marriage under his belt, Karl Stefanovic seems a magnet for controversy.

Often it seems Stefanovic’s drunken appearance on breakfast television after pulling an all-nighter at the 2009 Logies is the least of it. If he’s not the centre of controversy, it swirls around him.

The Michael Clarke video saw Stefanovic leap to the defence of his wife Jasmine’s sister, Jade Yarbrough, as she confronts Clarke over cheating allegations.

It would have been awkward for Stefanovic: he’s a longtime mate of Clarke, and the group’s Noosa host, Anthony Bell. But family clearly came first: he refers to Jade as his “sister”.

Stefanovic is no stranger to troubled relationships – both in his personal and professional life.

Karl Stefanovic with Jasmine Stefanovic. Picture Instagram

A long-time viewer love affair with Stefanovic soured in mid-2016 when he separated with first wife Cassandra Thorburn after 21 years of marriage.

It was a hugely public break-up, and the tide of sentiment turned further against Stefanovic when he met current wife, Jasmine, about six months after the split.

Jasmine, Karl and their daughter, Harper.

That relationship became public in February 2017, with the pair snapped getting cosy on a luxury yacht on Sydney Harbour: more fodder for angry viewers who had sided with his ex and voted with their remotes.

It got worse in mid-2018 when, with longtime Today sidekick Lisa Wilkinson gone, Karl and his brother Peter were recorded talking in an Uber in an extraordinary attack on their colleagues – including Karl’s new co-host, Georgie Gardner.

Stefanovic left Nine’s brekky line-up but later returned. Picture: Channel 9

In December 2018, after months of bad press, Nine announced he would leave Today after 14 years.

By then, he was on his honeymoon in Aspen with second wife Jasmine.

Stefanovic kept a low profile for a year, before finally the network relented, moving at the end of 2019 to fix Today’s still-dire ratings by returning the former golden boy to the gig.

It was a self-described “wiser” Stefanovic who returned in 2020, saying his personal life was now “very settled”.

His mate Clarke may envy him.