Heartbreaking Easter photo that supercharged Karl Stevanovic’s downfall

Karl Stefanovic’s downfall was slow and painful. But one photo soon after his split punched fans in the guts and caused irreversible damage.

While a series of missteps throughout the downfall of TV golden boy Karl Stefanovic dunked him deep into a slump he couldn’t climb out of, one small lapse early on in the breakdown caused damage no one predicted.

In the six months that followed Stefanovic’s September 2016 split from wife of 21 years Cassandra Thorburn, the Gold Logie winner had publicly moved on. In a matter of 12 weeks, it’s reported the host began his relationship with now-wife Jasmine Yarbrough — an up-and-coming shoe designer 10 years his junior.

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The new relationship was no secret. It was unveiled in February 2017 when photos emerged of the two lazing around the deck of a boat on Sydney Harbour. As well as being papped dining at inner-city hot spots, Stefanovic had also started to wind back the clock on his relatable dad-of-three image. Denim shirts and a statement fedora became his outfit of choice.

The split had already affected Today’s ratings and put a question mark over Stefanovic’s do-no-wrong persona. Still, divorces happen and people — even high profile ones — weather them.

But a getaway over the Easter holidays last year did irreversible damage to the host’s reputation and supercharged his unravelling.

A new-look Karl goes public.

During the first weekend of the April school holidays, Stefanovic jetted off to Los Angeles to meet Yarbrough before heading down to Cabo, Mexico to holiday with his new girlfriend’s family. The attention surrounding the new romance was intensifying.

One day after touching back down in Sydney, New Idea published photos of a loved-up Stefanovic passionately embracing Yarbrough as the designer jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Karl and Jasmine pictured at LAX back in April 2017. Picture: Coleman-Rayner

A romance made for tabloid attention.

The getaway was a weekend of fun and frivolity far away from his old life and family. And back in Sydney, his ex-wife Cassandra was picking up the pieces.

Over the same Easter period, Cassandra was photographed packing up the family home — which sold for $3.8 million soon after their split — alone. As a reinvigorated Stefanovic revelled in love and lust with Cabo — the desert paradise that would later become the location for his extravagant wedding — as the backdrop, Cassandra was lugging 21 years’ worth of memories to a removalist truck.

Not a luxury holiday in Cabo.

The difference couldn’t have been starker. It punched viewers and readers in the guts. For Stefanovic’s camp, it was a PR disaster.

Side-by-side, the two images gave a rare glimpse into a high-profile and complicated separation. They spoke for themselves.

The split had an immediate effect on Today’s ratings. Soon after the Easter photos were taken, the morning show’s then-executive producer Mark Calvert admitted details printed about his star host’s separation may have “taken some of the shine off” for some viewers.

Two years of stumbles — of surprise commitment ceremonies, glamorous holidays, a luxury wedding and an Uber scandal — have done more than take just some of the shine off Stefanovic.

On Wednesday, there was no lustre left. Nine announced TV’s one-time golden boy was no longer their star host.

The shine was gone. He was worn down.