Richard Reid reveals Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson had ‘tension’ before pay dispute

A former Today show star dished details of the “tension” between Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson before their pay disparity dispute.

Richard Reid has opened up about sensing “tension” on the Today show between Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson, long before Wilkinson was brutally axed from the program over a well-documented pay disparity dispute.

Appearing on the Big Natural Talents podcast hosted by comedians Lauren Bonner and Concetta Caristo, Reid, who was an entertainment reporter for Today while Wilkinson and Stefanovic were co-hosts, opened up about his time on the show.

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Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson at their first photo shoot together in 2007. Picture: Supplied.

“There was tension,” he said.

“It’s really morning hours, people get there at 3:30am, you have to go to bed at 7 or 8pm, so you’re not your best self,” he explained, adding: “I think from what I witnessed, Karl was not having an easy time at home, Lisa felt undervalued and underpaid, so there was tension … that’s all I know.”

Wilkinson and Stefanovic’s fractured relationship made headlines again late last year off the back of Wilkinson’s memoir, in which the Project host said she felt betrayed when her former colleague accepted a pay rise significantly higher than her own salary despite promising to renegotiate a “Friends-style” deal together.

Promoting It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This in an interview on The Project, Wilkinson said she and Stefanovic are “not really in touch” while avoiding a question of whether they “had a friendship”.

Wilkinson said she was “hurt” by Stefanovic back-pedalling on their pact to negotiate their salaries together.

Reid’s perception of the pair’s friendship throughout their decade working together comes amid reports Wilkinson and her colleague Peter van Onselen .

Meanwhile, Ally Langdon — who took the Today show reigns from Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight in 2020 — took an awkward on-air dig at Stefanovic last week which left the TV star visibly taken aback.

Reid’s own feud with Karl

Elsewhere on the podcast, Reid opened up about his own beef with Stefanovic after he revealed the Today host’s “hair plugs” secret on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, claiming he didn’t realise how much of a media storm it would trigger.

Despite Stefanovic responding that Reid was a “tosser of the highest order”, the two have apparently now buried the hatchet.

“I thought it was just bitchy gossip, I didn’t think of any repercussions,” Reid said of the juicy titbit.

Reid’s I’m A Celeb gossiping sparked a feud between the TV stars. Picture: Toby Zerna

“But when you’re in the jungle you don’t even think about the cameras after a while … I had no idea but when you get out of the jungle you meet with a press rep and they say, ‘Ok this got a lot and this got a lot (of press)’.

“The number one topic was Karl getting a hair transplant and now I’m in a feud! It was weird,” he recalled.

The former “King of the Jungle” added that he and Stefanovic are now on good terms.

“Back in the day, I was not Karl’s biggest fan,” he said.

“However, since he was fired and then rehired and remarried, had his vasectomy redone and now he can have kids, he’s like a new man! He’s just really sweet and nice.”

Originally published as Richard Reid reveals Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson had ‘tension’ before pay dispute