‘It’s very stilted’: Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner appear ‘strained’ on Today, expert reveals
ANALYSIS: Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner have been under the media microscope after the Uber call scandal. And tensions are showing on-air, more than usual.
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CRACKS are showing in the on-air interactions between Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner on the Today show in the wake of the Uber call scandal.
A leading body language expert has revealed what the Nine co-hosts are saying through their physical behaviour onset.
“They’re putting on a professional face. There’s absolutely no eye contact between them,” body language analyst Louise Mahler said.
“She tends to slightly lean away from him. And as he started to speak, she even moved her body away from him,” Mahler told News Corp Australia, based on Today’s breakfast broadcast on Thursday.
It was the second day Stefanovic, 43, and his co-host Gardner, 46, — the woman he slagged off within earshot of an Uber driver while on a loud speaker phone call to his brother, Peter Stefanovic — were back together in the studio.
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“There’s low energy in the vocal tone as well. They’re speaking more slowly.
“They’re putting on a professional face. It doesn’t have the relaxed interaction that they normally have.
“It’s very stilted.”
Mahler said Stefanovic and Gardner’s body language suggested there was tension between the co-hosts and they were not acting as a team in front of the cameras.
“It’s like if someone has bad breath ... you suddenly flinch away from them, and that’s actually what she did,” Mahler said.
“Usually, you’d have eye contact at the camera and then include the person beside you and bring them into the conversation.
“They’re operating as two separate individuals on the screen.
“It’s strained and covered by their professionalism, so that the normal viewer would think something but wouldn’t know what it was.
“They’re acting as individuals, not as a team.”
Mahler said Stefanovic’s body language had become increasingly “lacklustre” in the wake of a string of scandals involving his personal life, including the breakdown of his marriage.
“Karl is just lacklustre and looking straight ahead,” Mahler said.
“I’ve seen a massive difference in Karl over time. His smile has become more and more fake. He looks tired.
“A held smile, the muscles under the eyes not holding. Gestures that aren’t as big. Not as much air coming out of his body.”
She said one of the telltale signs of possible stress behind the scenes was a change in the way Stefanovic laughed.
“He used to go backwards with the big laugh and there’s less of that free laughter,” Mahler said.
“He’s more held and controlled and contrived.”
A well-placed TV source — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — said Stefanovic and Gardner had always had an uncomfortable interaction on-camera.
“Georgie and Karl have always had a strained relationship, I’m sure the Uber conversation has only served to add more discomfort,” the source said.
This morning’s broadcast featured an interview with Married at First Sight couple Troy and Carly, and an awkward stunt where Stefanovic was covered with worms as Gardner watched on.
“You’re enjoying this,” Stefanovic said to his colleagues, as he was showered with “meal worms”.
Stefanovic was at times comforted by Gardner during the cringe-worthy stunt, where he wore a blue protective suit and goggles, sat in a bathtub and showered with live worms.
“No! No! that’s gross ... that’s disgusting. Dickie, this is not cool! I’ve only ever been nice to you,” Stefanovic said.
Today entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins — who Stefanovic had also criticised during the infamous Uber call — helped pour the worms over him.
Yesterday, Gardner confronted her fear of snakes.
During the awkward segment, Stefanovic — whose working relationship with Gardner has been under a microscope since news broke of the late night phone call — did his best to placate his co-host.
“I want you to know one thing ... I am here for you,” he told Gardner yesterday.
On Monday’s episode of Today — the same morning New Idea ran salacious details of the phone call between the Stefanovic brothers — Gardner labelled her co-host “pathetic” live on air when he confessed to having a fear of sausage dogs.