Jessica Rowe’s husband Peter Overton drops Today Show bombshell

Jessica Rowe famously left Nine after just one year co-hosting Today – now, her husband has made a surprising revelation about her time there.

Jessica Rowe’s husband Peter Overton has revealed the duo was offered a husband-and-wife hosting gig at The Today Show.

The veteran Channel 9 broadcaster, who has been with the network for 31 years, said the offer came soon after Rowe, now 51, had replaced Tracy Grimshaw on the breakfast program alongside Karl Stefanovic in 2006.

At the time, Rowe was immediately criticised in the press for a lack of chemistry with her co-host, as well as copping personal attacks over her weight, hair and even her laugh.

Speaking on Rowe’s podcast, The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, Overton, 55, said he was “ready to quit” the network over how poorly his wife was treated - but was then offered a job alongside her.

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Jessica Rowe and then-co-host Karl Stefanovic circa 2006.

“I was ready to quit Channel 9 because I was so upset at the way you were treated,” Overton recalled. “You said to me, ‘We’ve got a mortgage to pay buster, don’t make a stupid decision’.

“I remember them (executives) also saying, ‘Oh, maybe you and Jessica could host the show together?’ I said, ‘You’re kidding me? You’re going to ruin two careers, ruin a marriage and ruin a program in one hit? No thank you.’”

Rowe recalled that she’d advised her husband: “We can’t implode two of our careers at the same time. It would be a disaster.”

Overton did not say if he was offered the role as a possible replacement for Stefanovic, who has served as co-host of Today from 2005 to 2018, before returning in 2020.

Things did indeed get worse for Rowe from there. Upon returning from maternity leave in 2007 and suffering from post-natal depression, Rowe was let go over “payment disputes” with the network.

It was later revealed that then-CEO Eddie McGuire had pushed for her sacking in a meeting with executives.

Rowe left the Nine Network after just one year co-hosting Today.

During their emotional podcast chat, Overton revealed he cautioned Rowe before she accepted the role on Today, saying he “didn’t think it was a good idea”.

“I still remember saying to you that Channel 9 is in an unsettled place, perhaps the most unsettled in its history. I’m conservative, I’m not a risk taker, and you are. But you said, ‘No, I’m going to do it. It’s not everyday you are offered a hosting role at an iconic breakfast television program.’

“Circumstances conspired and it didn’t last but I tell you... what you’ve achieved is stratospheric in my mind. Because it was so public.

“I’d be in Europe and I’d see the papers before you would and I’d go, ‘Oh jeez, give her a break.’”

Peter Overton and Jess Rowe have been married since 2004. Picture: John Appleyard

Overton also opened up about their gruelling IVF journey, which they underwent while Rowe’s Today job was regular tabloid fodder, saying it was what “sustained” them as a couple.

“That was our little secret wasn’t it? It was the thing that sustained us as all that rubbish went on at the Today show, at least we had our IVF journey,” he said.

He said the couple underwent four IV attempts, experiencing fresh heartbreak each time they had “another failure.”

“I could see what it was doing to you and your body, your mental health, everything,” he told her.

Jess and Peter got very candid on her podcast.

The couple finally fell pregnant with their first born Allegra, who is now 15, after their fourth round of IVF. “It was worth every tear and dollar and heartache,” Overton added.

Rowe reunited with Stefanovic for the first time in years during the debut episode of her podcast in August last year, in which Stefanovic admitted he didn’t “protect” her during their tumultuous time hosting together.

“You didn’t have a guy next to you who could have helped you and protected you,” a candid Stefanovic said to her.

“I’m here to apologise to you, and I wish I’d been a better man. A stronger man. Not just for you, but for myself.

“Years later, when I was going through my third and fourth wave of [criticism], I was thinking, how did Jess Rowe survive?”.

The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show is available on LiSTNR or wherever you get your podcasts