Cassandra Thorburn opens up on Karl Stefanovic, Jasmine Yarbrough
It has been a tumultuous time in Cassandra Thorburn’s life. But having moved into her new north shore digs, she tells the Mosman Daily she is in a happy place.
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Cassandra Thorburn is weary of being known as the former Mrs Karl Stefanovic.
And in an unexpected display of solidarity she says she baulks at the labels applied to Stefanovic’s new love, Jasmine Yarbrough.
“People refer to her as ‘the new wife’. Or, ‘the second wife’. It’s like, are you joking? That’s his wife. Show some respect.
“Because, when they say she’s the ‘new wife’, or the ‘second wife’, she then has to think, well, (Cass) was the first wife. Well, that’s unkind.
“And, what do you mean, first wife is more important than second? No, she’s not.”
In a wide-ranging interview in the Mosman Daily, Ms Thorburn discusses whether she has finally “moved on” from Karl.
“That perception that, unless you’re dating, you’re not whole. I have gotten on with (my life). Can’t I just be over? Can’t I just have moved into a happy place in myself?
“It’s been a lot of movement, and a lot of change, obviously a divorce. I mean it’s … not been the simplest.”
Ms Thorburn invited her local newspaper inside her new digs - a three-bedroom Neutral Bay semi - just days after she moved in.
It’s a “doll’s house” she says, compared to the $9 million Cremorne mansion she and Karl called home.
Moving into a new home was an opportunity for a fresh start said Ms Thorburn, as was her new job as PR and marketing manager for the children’s charity Taldumande Youth Services, based in North Sydney and the northern beaches.
“There’s a perception that kids on the streets are just looking for trouble – we need to change perceptions around it, why they are out there. But a major factor for me joining them is giving back.”
Thorburn is guided, too, by a message her late father imparted to her, shortly before he died. She read out to him an email inviting her to appear on Dancing With The Stars. It was because of him – and her need to buy a car – that she took the gig, even though she had reservations about it.
“That was his thing, ‘Don’t have regrets’. Because, you know, what’s the point?”