The Nine favourite who could be next Today host
60 Minutes reporter Ali Langdon has long been the golden girl in the eyes of Channel Nine bosses and it might just see her dropped in to replace one of the hosts of the network’s struggling breakfast show, Annette Sharp writes.
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Ali Langdon’s star and fortune is expected to rise in future months following the 60 Minutes glamour girl’s 11th-hour appointment as host of Nine’s Upfronts showcase on Wednesday.
Sources claim that for weeks it was Today host Deb Knight’s name listed on the running order for what turned out to be a rather boring and cheaply catered-for event of sales pitching and Lego displays.
The day before, Knight, we hear, was taken aside and told she had been replaced in the role by Langdon. Our sources say the news came as a blow to Knight.
Langdon has long been favoured as a future Today show host and with Nine expected to replace either Knight or her co-host Georgie Gardner — or both — at year’s end, rumours have surfaced that Langdon could once again be in executives’ sights.
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She was in her ninth month of pregnancy and out of the running for the role at the start of 2019 when her bosses were putting the finishing touches on the new Today line-up.
Ten months on, she is unspoilt by the controversy that has plagued Today all year, since Knight was hurriedly installed in January to replace tarnished outgoing host Karl Stefanovic.
The decision to appoint Langdon, who is said to have been wined and dined by Nine management last month, is seen also — and critically, too — as a snub to Gardner, who has gained something of a chilly diva-esque reputation since her installation last year.
Insiders say Gardner and Knight are unlikely to be told of their fate until the end of the ratings year — so worried are Nine’s bosses about aggravating the poor rapport between the two women.