Why Karl Stefanovic had to go

His splashy wedding did nothing to restore Karl Stefanovic’s reputation as a beloved knockabout Aussie bloke and was the final straw for Nine, writes Colin Vickery.

Karl Stefanovic’s wedding did nothing to restore his reputation with Aussie TV viewers.

It was clearly the intention, and the question of whether it would was something I had pondered after the Mexico nuptials between the Today co-host and Jasmine Yarbrough.

Stefanovic obviously saw the celebrations of a week and a half ago as the start of a new chapter, and closing a door on a rollercoaster two years following his split from his wife of 21 years Cassie Thorburn.

Now with news that he’s been dropped from Nine’s flagship program, he can get on with life, but he won’t be going back to Today.

A refreshed version of Nine’s breakfast show will be beamed out of Melbourne during the Australian Open tennis in mid-January, but without Karl at the helm.

It seems his hopes of a new start with his audience were nothing more than wishful thinking. Viewers — particularly women — seemed not to have a change of heart. His splashy Mexican wedding was less a charming love story, and seen more as a tacky display that seemed to pay no heed to the hurt he’d left in his wake, and the possibility it would only compound that hurt.

The paparazzi-fuelled media circus also did not go away. And the rumours that Stefanovic would be dumped from Today only ceased because of the annoucement he’d been axed.

If he hadn’t been dumped, it seemed unlikely the whispers and magazine stories would otherwise stop. Magazines like New Idea would have possibly run splashy negative articles on Stefanovic for months, and perhaps years, to come.

The obvious reason was that stories on Stefanovic are good for sales but there was something bigger at play.

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Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough’s wedding in Cabo.

New Idea is owned by Channel 7, and could have continued to be a useful weapon in the breakfast television wars.

It was also no coincidence that Seven had recently been ramping up the warm and fuzzy stories about Sunrise co-host David Koch loving life as a grandfather just to ram home the contrast.

Stefanovic’s ex Cassandra Thorburn was another wildcard. Who knew when she would lob another verbal grenade?

Last week Thorburn was quoted as telling New Idea that her former husband was a “fake” and an egotist. Thorburn has since denied the giving the magazine an interview but the damage had been done. There have been more critical quotes from Thorburn published in the last few days, and even more extraordinary, an article where their son Jackson, 19, described the wedding as “s**t”.

There has also been word that Thorburn could be one of the contestants on Channel 10’s reboot of Dancing with the Stars, providing another chance to twist the knife.

The worry for Nine execs and Stefanovic was that he would forever be mentioned in the same breath as Mel Gibson, Paul Hogan, Greg Norman, Bob Hawke and Kevin Costner. Their reputations were shredded after what was seen as “trading in” the wives who had been there through the hard times for a younger model when they achieved major success. The same was looking likely for Stefanovic, and it would have completely poisoned what was left of his relationship with audiences.

And the splashy spectacle of the three-day Stefanovic/Yarbrough wedding celebrations became a new turn-off for a lot of Aussies.

Nine was hoping that the couple would have had a more low-key event. Instead, with sixteen in the wedding party, a Bundaberg rum bar, Julie Bishop on the decks — it was try-hard Hollywood kitsch.

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Julie Bishop behind the decks at the after-party. Picture: instagram.com/corbinharris

As far as I’m concerned, Today has more problems than simply Stefanovic. Nine CEO Hugh Marks told me recently that the production needed to be sharpened up and in the last couple of weeks, Mark Calvert has been replaced by Steven Burling as the network’s director of morning television.

Multiple Nine sources say that one of Today’s biggest problems is that it is too Sydney-centric. To them, the constant Harbour City focus is the main reason the show has dropped like a stone in Melbourne and Adelaide.

Added to that, Nine and the show were hurt by the circumstances of Lisa Wilkinson’s departure — which was shaped in terms of a gender pay gap and female empowerment.

In 2017 there were reports that Stefanovic wanted to quit Today and replace Tracy Grimshaw as host of A Current Affair.

Accurate or not that also hurt. If Stefanovic wasn’t committed to Today then why would viewers be?

I am still to be convinced that replacement Georgie Gardner is as popular as Wilkinson.

Stefanovic’s criticism of Gardner during his famed Ubergate conversation with brother Peter didn’t help.

Mexican Marines patrol the beach ahead of the wedding. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Viewers were never going to be convinced that there was any genuine chemistry between Stefanovic and Gardner, no matter how much the pair pretends to be pals.

Another hit to Today’s popularity happened when weather presenter Steve Jacobs quit at the end of 2016. Natalia Cooper isn’t the answer.

Television shows don’t go off the boil because of one thing but because of a convergence of a number of issues.

The negativity that swirled around Stefanovic was certainly one reason for falling ratings, but not the only factor.

Stefanovic’s attitude in recent weeks, especially at his wedding, seemed to be: “life is too short to be unhappy”. He must have felt he had been through the wringer. He’s in love and didn’t mind the world knowing.

Stefanovic must have also been confident that he has a set of work skills that will keep him employed even if Nine pulled the plug on his Today job. He may be partially right to have such faith, as the annoucement of his departure from the breakfast show also mentioned he would continue to host This Time Next Year, but it also points out it films in February, so he may be a free agent after then.

But calling himself “the best journalist in Australia, quite possibly the world”, as his ex-wife reportedly claimed he described himself, was a step too far, even if he has commanded respect at Nine for his hosting and reporting abilities.

So where to from here?

It’s for the best that Stefanovic has parted ways with Today. It’s time for him to shed all the baggage that came with the job. Move on professionally as well as personally. Shape a new future.

Colin Vickery is a News Corp national TV writer.

@colvick

Originally published as Why Karl Stefanovic had to go