Karl Stefanovic breaks silence on Today axing, personal struggles

For the first time, Karl Stefanovic has spoken in-depth about his Today axing, revealing he was “struggling” when Nine decided to pull the plug.

Karl Stefanovic has opened up about his axing from Today last year, revealing “it was a relief in many ways” to be let go from the breakfast TV gig.

Speaking at Channel 9’s post-Logies recovery brunch Stefanovic said he had been struggling towards the end of last year.

In December, Stefanovic was abruptly dumped from Today while on his honeymoon with new wife Jasmine Yarbrough following months of tabloid reports about his personal life.

“It was good to be back (last night). It’s been about six months since I was on the telly, and I needed to have a rest. Towards the end of last year, I was cooked,” Stefanovic said today.

“It had taken its toll, a lot of the attention — all the unwarranted attention I thought, and you can’t control any of that, I’m not going to complain too much about that, but what it meant was that in a work capacity I don’t believe for a second I was at my best.

“I think I was struggling towards the end of last year.”

Karl Stefanovic attends Nine's post Logies Recovery Brunch, Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

Being let go from Today hadn’t been a huge shock for the Nine presenter, with Stefanovic revealing he had been expecting it to happen.

“So it wasn’t a great surprise to me — in fact it was a relief in many ways — that I was taken off the Today show. Because I just wasn’t at my best and you can’t be doing that show unless you’re at the top of your game,” he said.

“You’ve got to be sharp, you’ve got to be witty, you’ve got to be funny. You’ve got to see the angles, and to be honest, at the end of last year I wasn’t seeing much.”

After a month of sleeping in past his usual 3.30am starts on Today, Stefanovic said he “saw things a lot clearer”.

“It allowed me to rest and think about life in a much clearer way and to come back and go ‘OK, when I do come back, I’ve got to make sure I’m OK’ and I think for a while there, I wasn’t sure if I was, to be honest,” he said.

Stefanovic said married life with Yarbrough was “wonderful” now they were able “to breathe without having too many paparazzi in the shower with us”.

“It has eased off, which was the whole point of everything (Today axing),” he added.

Besides returning to screens with This Time Next Year in the coming months, Stefanovic said he had been “doing a bit of 60 Minutes stuff”.

“(I’m) just breathing. Taking life in,” he added.

RELATED: All the 2019 Logies nominees and winners

RELATED: No room at the Logies table for cast of MAFS

Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough’s wedding.

Last night Tom Gleeson delivered the night’s opening monologue — and he didn’t hold back, with a few barbs at Stefanovic’s expense.

“I think the reason they asked me to do the opening is because Channel 9 has run out of stars. They don’t have any left. They have new rule on breakfast TV: If you are too entertaining, they fire you. Am I right, Karl? If you’re too entertaining, they fire you. What I’m saying is Kochie, your job is safe,” he said.

“Channel 9 were happy to cash in on (MAFS’) ratings by showing off your tacky weddings — and fired Karl Stefanovic for having one. Karl, we need you back. When will they take you off the bench? The Today Show needs you. I was on the Today Show the other day to promote the Logies. Ratings are so low I felt like I was keeping a secret.”

As the night wore on — and Stefanovic’s personal life became the butt of more jokes — we asked Gleeson about his own barrage of Karl jokes. He revealed there was even a joke he left out:

“I knew Karl was turning up, I read it the other day. I thought, ‘Great, Karl’s here, there’s two minutes taken up’. I had another line in my head I was gonna say — ‘Oh you didn’t bring your plus one? Good choice’.”

This year’s Hall of Fame award went to TV veteran and former 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien, who appeared to reference Stefanovic’s high-profile divorce to Cassandra Thorburn while thanking his own wife.

Richard Wilkins and Karl Stefanovic during the 2019 Logies. Picture: Nine

“Sue Javes, my wife and best friend for 40 years, warned me tonight not to say how much she had helped me in my career, as Karl Stefanovic had said here at the Logies a few years ago, because it (had) probably cost him a couple of million. Sorry, darling, you are going to have to lower your sights.”

O’Brien was referring to Stefanovic’s 2011 Gold Logie acceptance speech, in which he thanked then-wife Cassandra Thorburn for giving up her own career to support him and raise their children.

The cameras briefly cut to Stefanovic, who looked a bit deflated — surely he had assumed he’d be safe from jokes at his expense during the Hall of Fame speech.

Later in the night, Karl’s old Today colleague Richard Wilkins again put the spotlight on him, approaching his table on-camera for a quick chat between awards presentations.

“Dickie! I’m looking forward to my first Logie in 15 years without having to get up at 3.30 in the morning,” said Stefanovic.

“Good news, you can have a massive night and have a big sleep-in,” said Wilkins.

“I did that anyway,” Stefanovic said with a chuckle.