Karl Stefanovic vanishes from Today desk after daughter’s sudden health scare

Karl Stefanovic is absent from the Today show this morning. It comes days after the Channel 9 star revealed his daughter’s health scare last week.

Karl Stefanovic was a no-show beside Ally Langdon on the Today show this morning.

Instead, Ally was joined by newsreader Alex Cullen, entertainment reporter Brooke Boney and reporter Lara Vella.

Addressing Karl’s absence early in the show, Ally revealed the father-of-four was home sick for the day.

“Our top story is the reason why Karl has not turned up to work this morning we have decided. Sadly, he is at home sick this morning,” Ally said as she opened the program.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Ally hosted the program without Karl on Monday.

It comes after a stressful time in the presenter’s home life, after his two-year-old daughter Harper was rushed to hospital on Friday, a “really scary” ordeal for him and wife Jasmine, he told viewers Friday.

During the show on Friday, Karl urged parents to be vigilant after his toddler’s health scare, becoming emotional as he recalled the night.

Karl said Harper had a “sniffle and a cough” earlier in the week that quickly developed into a temperature. She was laid down to sleep but woke with wheezing and difficult breaths, a racing heart rate and a soaring temperature.

Karl and Jasmine took their daughter to the GP, but the toddler’s condition worsened dramatically and she had to be rushed to hospital.

While the breakfast show host praised healthcare staff for their timely and “brilliant job”, he said he knew he was not the only parent to have gone through this “shared experience”.

“There were literally thousands of parents in similar situations,” he said.

“We are lucky it wasn’t more serious, and we were lucky we had good people around her.”

He later admitted he “felt guilty” about not taking Harper straight to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Karl has been forced to deny rumours he’s leaving Today in 2023 to spend more time at home.

It came after Woman’s Day reported he would be stepping away from his position as breakfast television co-host to focus on producing more stories for 60 Minutes.

The report declared that Stefanovic would continue to play a behind-the-scenes role at the Today show that would allow him to spend more time with his family.

In April, when asked by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell if the rumours were true, Stefanovic replied: “No way, absolutely bullsh*t.”