Cassandra Thorburn gives first TV interview since splitting with Karl Stefanovic

FOR the first time since their high-profile split two years ago, Karl Stefanovic’s ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn has opened up in a TV interview.

CASSANDRA Thorburn has appeared on TV for the first time since the high-profile breakdown of her marriage to Today host Karl Stefanovic two years ago.

Thorburn, 47, and Stefanovic, 44, announced their split in September 2016 after 21 years and three kids together.

Although the former TV producer-turned-author has been scathing of her ex-husband and his new relationship with fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough in the past, she chose to steer clear of the topic during her interview on Seven’s The Morning Show today.

Thorburn appeared on Nine’s rival network Seven.

Spruiking her new children’s book, Leo Lion’s BIG Bed!, Thorburn said that she’d been looking for something to do with her new-found spare time.

“The kids are at school more, and I wanted to do something that I was interested in doing. A children’s book course was the beginning and that flowed into thinking, ‘We can do something here,’” she said.

Thorburn and Stefanovic in 2014, two years before their split.

The profits from the book are going to Relationships Australia — an organisation aimed at helping families through separation — which, given Thorburn’s recent situation, is clearly close to her heart.

“I thought it was a perfect thing to put all profits into, because it’s important to me,” she told hosts Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies.

“It’s part of what me and my children have been through, which led to me writing this book.”

Although she refused to mention her ex-husband by name, Thorburn touched upon the struggles of her own divorce.

“It’s particularly challenging for the children, especially when it was so public,” she said.

“What I have gone through has given me a reason to publish this as a book, so that the profits could assist other families.”

Cassandra Thorburn has released her very first children's book, with the profits helping families going through separation. #TMS7 pic.twitter.com/ES46wdOL1e

— The Morning Show (@morningshowon7) September 2, 2018

Last month, Thorburn’s bitter divorce with Stefanovic once again flared up in the headlines following an interview in which she claimed she felt like she and her children Jackson (18), Ava (13) and River (11) are “dead to [Stefanovic’s] family”.

“There has been practically no contact. I feel like we’ve been discarded and disposed of, replaced by a whole new line-up of starters,” she told The Australian Women’s Weekly. “It has been a real adjustment period for me.”

Stefanovic and Yarbrough revealed their engagement earlier this year. Picture: Christian Gilles

Shortly afterwards, a spokesman for Stefanovic’s family hit back, telling Nine’s The Fix that they were “disappointed” by her comments.

“We are disappointed Cass would claim such inflammatory suggestions that we have alienated Karl’s children from our family,” the spokesman said.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Karl regularly co-parents his children and has his loving family around them.”