Karl Stefanovic’s son hints at strained relationship with former Today star

Karl Stefanovic’s teenage son Jackson has hinted at their strained relationship following his father’s second marriage during a rare interview.

Karl Stefanovic’s son Jackson has hinted at the strain in their relationship in a rare public interview.

Tensions between the pair have been widely reported since the breakdown of the former Today host, 44, and Jackson’s mother, Cassandra Thorburn, in 2016.

The 19-year-old accompanied his two younger siblings, Ava, 13, and River, 12, to Mexico late last year for the lavish wedding of his father and Jasmine Yarbrough, although it’s understood he didn’t attend the ceremony.

In a new interview with Woman’s Day, Jackson was cagey when asked about Karl’s decision to leave Cassandra after 21 years together.

“What’s done is done,” he told the magazine. “Despite what happened, he’s still my dad. I’ll leave it there for now — who knows what happens next.”

Jackson and Karl in an Instagram post shared by the TV host.

However, Jackson was glowing in his praise of his mother, who has generated plenty of headlines in recent months with public swipes at her ex.

“My mother is the most extraordinary person, and what she has weathered in these past few years, no one deserves the backlash,” Jackson said.

“To watch my parents’ private lives play out so publicly was incredibly destructive for all of us — someone had to step up to protect her, and I knew that person was me.”

Cassandra took to Instagram on Monday to praise her son for his kind words in Woman’s Day as well as his support amid her appearance on Ten reality show Dancing With The Stars.

Last December, Jackson spoke out after it was first reported he’d skipped his dad’s wedding — despite flying all the way over there — and described the big event as “sh*t”.

“I didn’t go to the ceremony, I went to say congratulations (to Karl and Jasmine) after they’d all left the chapel, but it was a lot later,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

“My brother and sister didn’t want to go, and I was not going to leave them on their own, so I looked after them.

“I figure at their age they may not have an understanding of watching a parent get remarried. They might not understand it’s just a parent moving on.

“I left with my girlfriend (Anna Blackwell), and they said it was because we were too drunk which is just stupid — we left because it was sh*t.”

Describing his new stepmother Jasmine as “nice”, Jackson said the wedding experience was “all right”, but he was “pretty much just with my girlfriend the whole time” and “not worrying” about his father’s nuptials.

Karl and Jasmine tied the knot late last year.

Cassandra also hinted at the fracture between her children and their father on the day of Karl’s second wedding, suggesting to New Idea the trip was supposed to be just a family holiday for the children.

“They have to spend this two weeks with their father. Their father designed it to have his wedding on this day … They were told they never had to go. My 19-year-old has assured me they did not attend,” she explained at the time.