Lisa Wilkinson finally reveals the truth about leaving Today and her last show with Karl Stefanovic

For the first time, Lisa Wilkinson reveals the sensational details of her split with Nine and her deeply awkward final encounter with Karl Stefanovic.

People across Australia were stunned by LISA WILKINSON’s abrupt departure from the Today show in 2017 – none more so than the ratings-smashing host herself. In this exclusive edited extract from her long-awaited autobiography, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, Wilkinson for the first time reveals what really happened that day: her deeply awkward final encounter with co-host Karl Stefanovic; her bizarre last program; and how a bid for fairer pay led to the shocking discovery that she had been dismissed.

I break up with Today ... Lisa Wilkinson finally reveals how she was dismissed from Nine’s ratings juggernaut. Picture: Carlotta Moye.

It was my first day back at the Today show desk after having a week off, and the first time I would see Karl after his no-show at Pete’s and my 25th wedding anniversary celebration where we’d renewed our vows in front of our closest friends and family.

Karl and his new partner Jas had been invited but dropped out just two days before via a text to Pete saying that they were extending an overseas trip and wouldn’t be attending.

In the ten days since, Karl hadn’t contacted me, his co-host of almost eleven years, at all. No phone message, no text, no apology, not even a simple congrats. Just complete silence.

Golden couple ... Wilkinson and Stefanovic in their early days on Today.

I was curious to know when I – as opposed to Pete – would actually hear from Karl. In

all the years we’d sat next to each other, even though there were the occasional frustrations on both sides, upsets were rare. But on this particular morning, I was upset. With limited numbers, there were two precious spots at the wedding we could so easily have filled with dear friends, but Karl’s late text meant those seats had gone empty.

By 5.10 on that Monday morning, Karl and I still hadn’t crossed paths. Then, as I was seated on set before our regular 5.15am live cross to the early news, Karl arrived at the desk only just in time.

And he was instantly off and running, ‘Morning, Airlie, we’ve got a great show for you this morning …’

Promo done, and then, quick as a flash, Karl threw a joke at the floor crew and he was gone.

Really? I sat there for a moment.

Not a mention. Not a ‘how was the holiday?’ And certainly no ‘Sorry about that no-show at the wedding’. Not … anything.

From suburban schoolgirl, through magazine executive to TV star ... It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This tells Lisa Wilkinson’s story.

What I felt in that instant was hard to put into words. More than anything, I felt just a little bit pathetic. What was this thing Karl and I had between us? I’d presumed that along with our

work relationship, there was a friendship as well. I must have been wrong. For all the early starts, the ratings we’d worked so hard to claw back, the significant wins, the occasional disappointments, the hilarious on-air moments, the understanding we had of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, the confidences we’d shared, the chemistry magic even we didn’t quite understand … how could he still treat me with such uncaring disregard?

Did I now finally know exactly where I stood with Karl?

With just minutes now to on-air, news presenter Sylvia Jeffreys took her place at the end of the desk and cheerily asked how our second honeymoon in Byron Bay was. ‘You must show me the pictures. I love that place. And how’s your arm? It was so great that you got by without your cast at the wedding.’

Dream team ... Wilkinson and Stefanovic with colleague Sylvia Jeffreys at the 2017 Logies, four months before that awkward final show in October.

Whether Karl heard Sylvia’s comments as he wandered back across the studio floor, on the way slapping one of our cameramen on the back, telling a joke to another, before slipping into the chair beside me, I’ll never know.

And then, that familiar theme music began. Our floor manager counted us down: five, four, three, two … and the red light was on.

Then, before I could draw breath, Karl leaned in. ‘Well, good morning, great to have your company on this Monday, October 16. And good news, Lisa has returned from holidays … in fact, didn’t you get married again while you were away? Congratulations!’

I don’t think the pause I took in that exact moment was picked up by the cameras, but in my mind it lasted an eternity. Now I get the congratulations? Because the cameras are on?

What did Karl expect me to say? ‘Yeah, I did Karl and I invited you, you said yes, and at the last minute you didn’t show up and haven’t said a single word to me since’?

Special event ... Wilkinson and author husband Peter Fitzsimons renew their vows for their 25th wedding anniversary in October, 2017. “Just ten days later, my world was turned upside down,”she writes in It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This.

It was the 5.30 half-hour, the part of the show where we had long joked we could be our most raw and relaxed, because, let’s face it, at that hour, no-one is watching. In that moment I was certainly feeling raw, but relaxed was not one of the many emotions I had in play.

What had happened a week before – a joyous celebration amongst our closest friends and family – clearly counted for nothing to Karl. Nor did my disappointment.

I glanced over at Sylvia. She knew I was upset, and I could see that she had clocked Karl’s words but quickly looked away, her smile never budging. I took a deep breath, my eyes momentarily widening at what I had just heard, turned to the camera, and said … ‘Yeah, I did Karl, but why would anybody care about that when it’s news time? Sylvia, good morning …’

And with that, no further words needed to be spoken. Karl knew I had cut him dead, something I had never done on or off air before. I was furious, possibly more at myself for having cared so much in the first place. With all those hours still ahead of us sitting half a metre apart, I knew it was going to be a long show.

Frozen out ... Wilkinson gave Stefanovic the cold shoulder after his wedding comment on-air.

For the next two hours, I exchanged not a single word with Karl outside of what was scripted – because for the first time, I just didn’t trust myself to “play nice”.

But there was now another reason I was quietly fuming: the bizarre rundown for that day’s show. Almost every interview was being done by Karl alone. I had just about nothing to do. During the ad-break I messaged our Executive Producer Mark Calvert and asked: is that a mistake?

‘No, it isn’t,’ was the sharp reply. I was suddenly reminded that he still hadn’t responded to any of my emails or phone calls asking what he knew about me being cut from Nine’s annual Up Fronts presentation to the ad industry the previous week while I’d been away, even though I’d done a whole morning’s filming for it.

What the heck was going on? I messaged Mark again as he sat in the control room just a short distance away, and asked if I could see him after the show. I waited. This time, no response.

What was going on? ... Wilkinson felt “completely useless” as the show continued.

To say I was having a rotten morning would be an understatement.

For two hours, I sat there feeling completely useless. The Today Show was now The Karl Show. What was the point of me even being there?

The cameras were on me so there was nowhere to hide. And yet, I felt completely invisible.

Then at 7.30, something in me suddenly switched. Did I really want to sit there for another 90 minutes feeling miserable? I’d always promised myself to do every show as if it was my last.

So, once again, I did. It was a mood switch which, more than likely, confused the bejesus out of Karl. But for the remainder of the show, I was determined to enjoy what little I’d been given to do beyond throwing to the news and weather every half-hour.

This job was a privilege I had always treasured and should really only ever belong to those who felt that way about it. I was determined I wasn’t going to throw another minute of it away. When I walked off set that day at 9 o’clock, I was proud of myself. I’d kept my promise.

Keeping it professional ... Wilkinson rallied to uphold her personal promise, reflecting how she felt about her ten years at the show since 2007, when this photo was taken.

But as I got back to my dressing room, the show’s rundown was still bugging me. I had to go and find out what was going on. Why was Karl so completely dominating the show now? In fact, why hadn’t Karl himself questioned the absurd imbalance of the rundown? He was after all, the guy who so famously created headlines for wearing the same suit every day for a year, supposedly in protest over the sexist treatment of females on TV. Yet he was clearly just fine with me being treated like this?

So, I quickly changed and headed up to the office to try and catch Mark before the usual 9.30am planning meeting for the next day’s show. Strangely, he had already left. No-one was quite sure why or when he would be back. So I waited. But by 11.15 there was still no sign of Mark, he wasn’t responding to calls, and with an 11.30 hospital appointment for physio on my recently broken wrist, I had to leave as well. Something very strange was going on.

Meeting the big bosss ... Hugh Marks, Nine chief executive at the time. Elsewhere in the book, Wilkinson describes how she and her manager were in contract negotiations with him.

The good thing was my manager Nick Fordham had a meeting with Nine’s CEO, Hugh Marks, scheduled for that afternoon. I spoke to Nick, who agreed that something was up and promised he would raise it with Marks.

‘How do you feel?’ he asked.

I thought about it for a moment. Then said, ‘Kind of sad for some reason.’

‘Don’t be,’ Nick said. ‘I’m sure it will all work out.’

****

Later that afternoon, I dropped into the local supermarket to pick up a few groceries and some things for dinner, while taking the usual afternoon conference call planning for the next day’s show. The call over, I had just grabbed a tin of tuna from the shelves when …

****

Calling in ... Nick Fordham (right) with brother and former Today show star Ben Fordham (left) and rugby league’s Ricky Stuart.

My phone rang again. It was Nick. I knew he’d had that meeting with Hugh Marks so I was interested to find out how it went.

‘Hey, Nick …’ I said.

‘Hey there. Where are you?’ Nick’s voice was low and measured and I couldn’t quite hear him above the noise of the passing shopping trolleys and John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’ playing over the supermarket intercom.

‘I’m at Woolies in the canned fish aisle, why?’

‘I’m just getting into the lift at Channel 9. I’m trying to keep my voice down,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve just left Hugh Marks’ office.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘So how did you go?’

Nick: ‘You’re off the show.’

Me: ‘Off what show?’

Nick: ‘You’re off the Today show.’

Me: ‘Sorry, Nick? What do you mean by “off”?’

Nick: ‘Permanently off. Never to appear again. Today was your last day.’

I …

‘Nick, hang on … that can’t be right. I just got off the call to the team for tomorrow’s show. Mark Calvert was on that call. He said nothing. And what about Nine’s new contract offer that they’ve already put on the table?’

Extinct ... from that moment, Wilkinson’s partnership with Stefanovic was history. Now it’s her story.

What the hell had just happened?

Nick could tell I was in complete shock.

‘I’ll meet you at your place in ten minutes … are you OK?’

I looked around. I wasn’t so sure that I was. I was in a fog of utter disbelief.

I had just been dismissed from Channel 9. Effective immediately.

In aisle six at my local Woolies. And I was holding a can of tuna.

I hung up from Nick, and gently placed that tin of tuna back on the shelf. I then put back my other groceries, hoping that as I wandered the aisles, what I had just heard would start to make sense.

But it didn’t. Those words just kept going through my head: ‘Never to appear again.’

Gold hopes tarnished ... claims Nine were putting Wilkinson forward for the Gold Logie suddenly seemed empty.

Finally, I placed my now-empty green basket neatly back in the pile by the checkout, my head down, desperate not to meet anyone’s gaze, and walked in silence to the car. I wasn’t in tears. I wasn’t anything. Apart from numb. Did I really just get sacked? The same woman Nine was

apparently so proud of, they had recently started lining me up for next year’s Gold Logie?

While news of my dismissal was still hours from going public, the humiliation I felt at that moment was overwhelming, knowing that a few suburbs away, Hugh Marks, a man who had declared at my ten-year celebration how crucial I was to Today’s ongoing success, had now not only shown me the door but slammed it shut behind me. Turns out that kiss on the cheek I’d felt so uncomfortable about the last time he had greeted me in his office, was not one of admiration. It was the kiss of death.

Goodbye kisss ... Hugh Marks’ recent congratulations now rang hollow.

I tried to call Pete, but it went straight to voicemail.

Who could I call? Karl?

But hang on … was this why he didn’t attend the wedding and hadn’t spoken to me since? Was this why he never said a word about the show’s strange rundown that morning?

Oh.

What about Mark Calvert? Did he know he suddenly didn’t have a co-host of the show he executive produced? Was this why he hadn’t been returning my calls?

Oh again. The penny was starting to drop.

As I headed home and desperately tried to get some sort of perspective on this moment, I focused on something Pete always said to me in tough times. ‘There are three questions you and I must ask,’ he’d say, before referring to the children: ‘Is Jake OK? Is Louis OK? Is Billi OK?’

It’s all going to be okay ... Wilkinson realised she would survive her dismissal. In her book, read how she turned defeat into victory within hours by taking a new job with Channel 10. Picture: Carlotta Moye.

The answer was a resounding yes to all three. No-one had cancer. The house hadn’t burnt down. It was only a job. And it was only TV. I was simply parting ways with Nine on a principle.

We had fallen out on the issue of the massive gender pay gap I’d been experiencing for years sitting next to Karl – despite together, taking the show to number one in the extremely lucrative breakfast TV ratings.

Of all the hills for my time on the Today show to die on, I was OK with the fact that this turned out to be the one.

*Hours after being dropped by Nine, Lisa Wilkinson revealed she had accepted a job offer from Channel 10. Read how that happened, and much more, in It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, by Lisa Wilkinson and published by HarperCollins. It is out on November 3 and available for pre-order now at Booktopia.

New TV family ... Wilkinson’s first night on The Project, 28 January 2018, with Peter Helliar, Hamish Macdonald and Rachel Corbett.