Georgie Gardner named as new Today co-host

GEORGIE Gardner admits her Today co-host Karl Stefanovic can be a loose cannon, but says she can’t wait to work with him. Gardner hopes to continue to lead an ‘incredibly boring’ private life despite the new high-profile position.

GEORGIE Gardner admits her Today co-host Karl Stefanovic can be a loose cannon, but says she can’t wait to work with him.

Gardner was this morning named as the new co-host of Today.

The respected journalist and mother-of-two is returning to the Channel 9 breakfast show after Lisa Wilkinson’s shock departure.

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“I am looking forward to working with (Karl),” Gardner told the Herald Sun.

“There is so much I can learn from him. When it comes to big breaking stories, he has enormous abilities in getting to the essence of a story, to disseminating information like none other, quite frankly.

“Yes, he can be a loose cannon. Yes he can be a larrikin. Yes, he does sometimes go a bit too far.”

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Georgie Gardner, the new face of the Today Show, pictured this morning.

Gardner, 47, had been the favourite to take on the role, but said she had to take family into account when making her decision.

But she said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“When you have, whether it be a breaking news story, or a big, interesting interview to do, it’s incredibly stimulating,” she said.

“It’s a great challenge and I just felt that really, if I could get the balance right with everything going on in the home front, it will hopefully be a really enormously satisfying decision.”

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Gardner said having a high public profile would be the least appealing part of the gig.

“The scrutiny has increased in the three years since I have left the show ... I have loved flying under the radar, and I value my privacy greatly,” she said.

“I lead a really normal life as a mother of two children and I love the fact that I can still push the trolley up the supermarket aisle and be at the dog park with like-minded people and stay very much in touch.

“I figure that the paparazzi will figure out incredibly quickly that I am incredibly boring and move on to someone far more interesting.”

Lisa Wilkinson and Karl Stefanovic. Picture: Instagram

Gardner when she left the Today show.

Stefanovic said that it was great to have Gardner back.

“I think the best thing about her, is her heart,” Stefanovic said.

“Viewers know she cares. She is connected to what mums are going through and she really feels for them — and she’s got a wicked sense of humour.”

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Nine’s director of Morning Television, Mark Calvert said: “There’s no better person on Australian TV than Georgie. Ever since she left, viewers have been asking me when she’s coming back. Well here she is and I couldn’t be happier. She’s the total package: a brilliant broadcaster, a great journalist and a top woman.”

Other candidates included Deb Knight and Allison Langdon but Gardner’s continued popularity with viewers made her the odds-on favourite to get the role.

Gardner left Today in June 2014 to spend more time with 12-year-old daughter Bronte and 10-year-old son Angus.