Kerry Stokes shocked at Seven star Sharyn Ghidella’s brutal axing

The harsh dismissal of TV newsreader Sharyn Ghidella has shocked Seven’s chairman Kerry Stokes and his wife Christine to the core.

The harsh dismissal of Seven’s Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella is understood to have shocked Seven chairman Kerry Stokes and his wife Christine to the core.

Close sources have informed this column Stokes made repeated attempts to reach Ghidella after news of her sacking reached his ears last weekend. No word on whether Seven’s largest shareholder was successful in his attempts.

Ghidella, one of Seven’s most famous brand ambassadors north of the border, has been overwhelmed with messages of support after opening up about her treatment by Seven, and the treatment of longtime colleagues, on Facebook.

Channel 7 Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella reading her final news bulletin on Tuesday, July 9.

In response to Ghidella’s roughshod handling – she was phoned during a hair appointment and told her 17-year career at Seven and role as the 6pm evening news presenter was over – the Seven chairman has apparently expressed his annoyance to confidants.

This columnist understands Stokes did not believe the treatment of Ghidella was in keeping with how the network treats its staff.

Try telling that to those caught up in the bloodbath of the past month.

Shocked....Seven chairman Kerry Stokes with his wife Christine.

Seven’s newly appointed news boss, Anthony De Ceglie, is behind Ghidella’s axing

We expect there would also have been raised eyebrows over French toast at the Stokes breakfast table on Saturday morning.

Christine Stokes, Stokes’s current wife, has a long association with Ghidella that stretches back to the eighties when the two women worked together at NQTV in Cairns. Ghidella was then an on-the-road reporter at the regional station while Christine, then called Christine Simpson, was the station’s weather presenter.

Seven’s newly appointed news boss, Anthony De Ceglie, is behind Ghidella’s axing.