Sonia Kruger confirms Nine departure on air

An emotional Sonia Kruger finally confirmed Australian TV’s worst kept secret on air this morning, saying: “It’s time to do something new.”

Sonia Kruger finally confirmed Australian television’s worst-kept secret: She’s jumping ship from Nine.

The Today Extra host made the “big announcement” on air this morning, a week after it was widely reported in the Australian media that she was moving from Nine to Seven.

But while an emotional Kruger confirmed she was leaving the network, she made no specific mention of where she was headed.

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“Well, I do have an announcement to make. After eight fabulous years I am leaving the show and the Nine Network. I have had an amazing time here. I have been very privileged to work on some top shelf programs and of course with you, David, here – don’t,” she said, warning co-host David Campbell not to make her cry.

Sonia Kruger has announced on air she is leaving Today Extra.

“It has been an absolute blast but it is time for me to go and do something new. You know what it is like, Dave. Spread your wings. Tomorrow is going to be my last day on the show and as a thankyou to you at home for having me in your living room every day, we are putting together something special to celebrate. It will be semi-professional, hopefully,” she said.

Campbell, who declared he’d “only just found out” the news himself, said there would be “a lot of tears” during tomorrow’s final episode — and appeared to make a cheeky joke about fellow Today host Georgie Gardner, who did not return to the show after it was announced last weekend that Karl Stefanovic would take over again in 2020.

“We are going to have a lot of laughs tomorrow and we will going to go out big. Or you just don’t have to turn up. It is one or the other. It is on you,” he said.

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As reported last week, Kruger is believed to have signed a “seven-figure” deal to return to her former network in 2020, nine years after defecting to Nine.

It’s understood Nine had initially presented Kruger, 54, a new three-year contract worth more than $1.5 million, but negotiations broke down and she accepted Seven’s offer.

Sonia begged her co-host not to get her too emotional. Picture: Today Extra

Recent reports had suggested that Kruger was on the cusp of signing the new Nine deal, but a source close to the star told the Daily Mail that in the end, Nine “couldn’t justify paying her what Seven was prepared to pay”.

Both Nine and Seven declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au at the time.

Kruger’s departure comes during another dramatic end-of-year for Nine’s morning shows: With ratings dropping to new lows, Nine once more announced it would clear the decks on Today in 2020, replacing current hosts Gardner and Deb Knight with Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon. The upheaval comes just 12 months after Stefanovic himself was dramatically ousted.