Australia’s biggest celebrity feuds, including Michael Clarke, Pete Evans, Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson
With Michael Clarke at the centre of a very public feud, we take a deep dive inside the biggest celebrity bust-ups in recent years.
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While celebrities often put on a united front when the cameras are rolling, some stars just can’t seem to get along with each other. FULL LIST OF FEUDS
With Michael Clarke's public stoush with girlfriend Jade Yarbrough and Karl Stefanovic in the headlines, we look at the celebrities who have fallen out over the years.
Karl Stefanovic vs Lisa Wilkinson and Georgie Gardner
Lisa Wilkinson’s 2017 departure from Channel 9 sent shockwaves through the media industry and later sparked rumblings of a feud with her co-host Karl Stefanovic.
She reportedly quit the Today show after 10 years because Stefanovic was said to be earning $2 million – almost double her $1.1 million salary.
The following year, she reportedly signed a deal worth $2.3 million with Channel 10 which was more than double what she was earning at Nine. Wilkinson famously quit The Project in 2022.
While the pair have repeatedly denied feud reports, Wilkinson’s eyebrow-raising comments over the years have done little to dispel the rumours.
In 2018, she said she was happier after leaving Channel 9 and remarked on the “calibre” of her new colleagues at Channel 10.
“I’m not great around big egos, that doesn’t bring out the best in me,” she said.
While she did not mention Stefanovic by name, critics perceived her statement as a direct dig at her ex co-host.
The following year it was reported that she and Stefanovic had an awkward run-in at the Logies.
When asked what she said to him, Wilkinson jokingly replied, “I told him to go f**k himself”.
More recently, during an interview on The Project, Wilkinson was asked, “Do you have a friendship with Karl?”
She appeared visibly uncomfortable and replied, “Look, we’re not really in touch … I’d rather we didn’t use this, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to look like I’m … you know. But I was hurt. I was hurt. But you pick up and you move on, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Wilkinson was eventually replaced with veteran TV host Georgie Gardner, who eventually also found herself at the centre of feud reports with Stefanovic.
Stefanovic in 2018 was allegedly overheard “angrily” complaining about Gardner during a phone conversation with his younger brother Peter while he was in the back of an Uber.
The controversy, dubbed “Ubergate”, reportedly took place when Peter was in an Uber and speaking to his brother on loudspeaker. Their conversation allegedly included discussions about controversial Channel 9 boss Darren Wick, Today’s Mark Calvert and 60 Minutes’ Kirsty Thomson.
Sam Armytage vs Natalie Barr and David Koch
After months of reported tension behind the scenes at Sunrise, former co-host Samantha Armytage came out swinging at her ex-colleagues a few months after leaving the show.
Armytage claimed that Barr, her Sunrise replacement, wanted her job for a long time before she quit the Channel 7 breakfast show in March 2021.
Her comments were in response to Barr’s candid admission that they were never friends. “Look. I’m out. Nat’s wanted the job, forever. [and] she’s finally got it,” Armytage tweeted. “She just needs to get on & enjoy it – & forget about me..(even though I’m unforgettable Winking face with tongueFace with tears of joyFace with tears of joyFace with tears of joy.) #peaceout.”
Barr had told The Australian Women’s Weekly that she and Armytage did not have much in common outside of work, which fuelled feud reports.
“We got along very well in the office, for sure,” Barr said. “But the truth is we didn’t really see each other outside the office. We had vastly different lives, I guess. We were in different places. She was hanging with her friends, and I was spending time with my family. So, yes, we were in different places.”
Rumours of a workplace divide gained steam when Sunrise co-host David Koch revealed that he and Barr were not invited to Armytage’s farewell lunch at Catalina in Rose Bay.
It was later revealed that Armytage unfollowed her Sunrise colleagues on Instagram.
Guy Sebastian vs Iggy Azalea
Singer Guy Sebastian made no secret of the fact that he was not a fan of rapper Iggy Azalea during their time on The X Factor in 2016.
The duo, along with US singer Adam Lambert and UK star Mel B, formed the judges panel and when asked about persistent feud rumours, Sebastian, 39, didn’t hold back.
“I don’t like Iggy. She was awful to me,” he told The Kyle and Jackie O show in 2019.
“I had stuff on with my kids, she made us all wait for three hours or something, and then lobs up and has attitude.
“If I’m making everyone wait, which happens … at least charm it on a bit. Go, ‘Oh I’m so sorry I’m late.’ Make up something. Iggy would walk in and go, ‘My time is my time, whatever, get over it.’”
Sebastian also criticised the Fancy artist in an interview with Stellar magazine by saying he “hated” his time on the show and “struggled” to work with her.
Azalea, 31, denied ever being late and labelled the Choir singer a “liar”.
“I want to talk about how Guy Sebastian is a complete liar, let’s get into it!” she tweeted.
“How can you be late for a show that was filmed on LIVE television,” she posted.
In a separate tweet she wrote, “I don’t actually give a f*** about other people’s opinions; I just can’t turn down the chance to tell someone they’re a dumb b**ch. It’s in my blood & there is no cure!”
Ajay Rochester vs Michelle Bridges
Former Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester still struggled more than a decade after working alongside fitness entrepreneur Michelle Bridges on The Biggest Loser.
Rochester, 52, hosted the Channel 10 weight loss show for four years before abruptly leaving in 2009 and she claimed Bridges, 50, who was a trainer on the series, was the reason behind her departure.
“I don’t even know what her problem was, I’d never done anything to her. It’s a shame because I loved that job so much,” Rochester said.
“I would get a lot of publicity and she used to ask me how I got it... She would ask if I had been calling the papers. The only thing I can think of is she wanted to be more noticed, she’s very ambitious. I got the silent treatment.”
A rep for Bridges described Rochester’s claims as “defamatory”.
Rochester claimed her complaints to producers went unanswered.
“They 100 per cent knew about it and no one did anything,” she said.
Fed up, Rochester packed her bags and fled to the US after leaving the show.
In 2016, Bridges made controversial comments to Australian Story which drew criticism from Rochester at the time.
“But I can tell you now, I am yet to have meet someone who is morbidly obese and happy,” Bridges told the program.
Magda Szubanski vs Pete Evans
Comedian Magda Szubanksi accused former TV chef Pete Evans of fat-shaming after he criticised her in 2020 for appearing in a Covid-19 ad campaign.
The Kath and Kim star lashed out at Evans in a Twitter rant after he slammed the star-studded TV ad, which is funded by the Victorian government, as “offensive”.
“Frankly I am sick to f**king death of skinny people (yes Pete Evans and your followers) assuming they are morally and spiritually superior,” Szubanksi tweeted.
“#Fathoming me & assertion that fat people have no place in discussion about public health not only insults me but also all the fat nurses, doctors, ambos etc who give so much. My Polish gran was fat & a nurse & she risked her life to hide Jews from the Nazis #fattiesunite.”
At the time, Evans, who is a Covid-19 conspiracy theorist, shared a photo of Szubanksi with his 1.5million Facebook followers in a post criticising the campaign, which encouraged Victorians to comply with stage 4 lockdown restrictions.
“The most offensive and disgraceful ads I have ever seen in television are circulating in Victoria currently, using a few well known celebrities,” he wrote.
“It is so sad to see this type of brainwashing occurring to children and families in that state and have had enough of the lies. Enough is enough.
“Imagine if they actually wanted to help people get healthy....how would an ad like that look and sound? Let’s give it a try shall we....Spread love, be free, eat anti inflammatory healthy food, hug each other, play, sing, get outdoors, get your hands into the soil, meditate, dance, connect to nature and build a healthy immune system and protect and help the vulnerable with the best of what we know works.”
James Packer vs David Gyngell
Billionaire casino mogul James Packer and former Channel 9 boss David Gyngell made international headlines in 2014 after a vicious fist fight that was caught on camera.
The longtime friends stunned onlookers in the ritzy eastern suburbs when they came to blows during a street brawl outside Packer’s $20 million Bondi property.
A barefoot Gyngell, 55, reportedly threw the first punch, leaving Packer’s right eye bruised and the pair wrestled each other to the ground before the fight was broken up by Packer’s personal trainer.
At the time, reports claimed the dispute stemmed from Packer’s frustration over a Channel 9 van being parked outside of his home amid rumours he was dating model Miranda Kerr.
However, Kerr later denied the reports, telling The Sunday Times, “They weren’t fighting over me. James and I are friends, but people want to make a story, the public want to put me with someone.”
In a joint statement, Gyngell and Packer, 54, said the fight was a lapse in judgement.
“We have been friends for 35 years and still are,” they said.
“In that time we have had our fair share of ups and downs. “We respect each other and neither of us will be commenting further.”
Michael Clarke vs Karl Stefanovic
In fairness the real war was between cricket great Clarke and his girlfriend Jade Yarbrough, who in January 2023 was caught on video accusing her boyfriend of cheating.
Stefanovic, Yarbrough's brother-in-law, exchanged a war of words with Clarke in the public car park of the Noosa restaurant, before Yarbrough appeared to slap the former Aussie captain, who has endured a colourful rise to fame.
At the centre of the feud was a claim that Clarke had cheated with his ex Pip Edwards, something she since denied.
Clarke, who played 115 Tests for Australia from 2004 to 2015, hosts radio show The Big Sports Breakfast as well as featuring in cricket commentary.
Firass Dirani vs Shannan Ponton and Merrick Watts
Underbelly actor Firass Dirani didn't endear himself to Ponton and Watts when the trio appeared on SAS Australia in 2021.
Firassappeared to regularly disobey orders, leading to other recruits being punished.
Fitness guru Ponton and comedian Watts lashed out at Firass after he nearly had the whole team thrown back into a freezing lake.
“Mate that’s three in a row,” Ponton said.
Watts added: “We’re all done with that sh*t mate. We’re done with you dobbing off to the f***ing DS mate. Don’t say anything. Don’t say sh*t to us. Get through the f***ing course."
The trash talking continued after the show ended.
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