Karl Stefanovic’s wife hits back again about stay-at-home mums

KARL Stefanovic’s wife, Cassandra Thorburn, has penned a passionate open letter defending stay-at-home mums.

CASSANDRA Thorburn, the wife of Karl Stefanovic, has penned an open letter to working mums — explaining why her decision to stay at home doesn’t put her in competition with other women.

Ms Thorburn’s open letter was in response to an opinion piece written by news.com.au contributor Angela Mollard, about why women should never give up their jobs after having children.

Ms Thorburn explained in her response, that while she is well aware of how “competitive” and the “pressures” of work can be on working women, that’s no reason to make stay at home mothers feel like they had made the wrong decision.

Karl Stefanovic with wife Cassandra Thorburn.

“I’m aware you spend your days in a competitive environment,” she wrote in her letter published on Popsugar.

“You’re often surrounded by young co-workers who are a constant reminder that someone is biting at your heels and there are deadlines to meet and pressures at work — and then you race home and your children need you also.

“It’s never ending. I get it.

“What I don’t get is why, in my experience, you also feel you’re in competition with us, the stay-at-home mums who made a different decision than you. Not a better or worse decision, just the right decision for us and a different one to you.”

Cassandra Thorburn has penned a letter aimed at working mums, and why they shouldn’t be in competition with women who choose to stay at home. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Ms Thorburn said after reading Angela Mollard’s opinion piece, that she couldn’t help but feel as if she’d made a bad decision about staying at home with the children.

“We are not in competition with you. We sympathise for you, but we are not in competition,” Thorburn wrote.

“Sometimes I think of working mothers who often return home at the end of a long day and face those long-left cereal bowls and breakfast remnants, unmade beds and laundry strewn around the house.

“I think of them because I was a working mother for a long time before I made the decision that was right for my family — a decision supported wholeheartedly by my husband. A decision I know I was fortunate enough to be able to make.”

Cassandra Thorburn is a stay-at-home mum.

On Monday evening, Ms Thorburn took to Facebook to acknowledge her recent split with Stefanovic in an emotionally-charged rant on her social media page.

“Apparently Today Show finally won a year,” she wrote.

“This took a huge toll on my family and I, and I’m congratulating myself today for all the effort that went into making that happen.”

The 44-year-old broke her silence almost a month after news of her shock split of Stefanovic was splashed in the tabloids. It also comes just days after Stefanovic made a quip about his split during a live segment on his breakfast show.

Karl Stefanovic is uncomfortable discussing the Brangelina split on the today show. Picture: Today

Stefanovic has always praised his wife for giving up her career to take care of their three children, Jackson, Ava and River.

Ms Thorburn, who met Stefanovic in the ’90s while she was working at the ABC in Queensland, decided along with her husband to stay at home with the kids so he could push ahead with his career as a journalist.

“We made a decision that is different to yours,” she wrote.

“It doesn’t mean, as I’ve realised some people think, that I’m watching daytime soaps all day. I help at the school canteen weekly because I know many working mums can’t. I’m home, so I do it for you and for my children. I volunteer at the uniform shop, again because I can and working mums can’t. I do these things to give back to the community I live in, because I can.”

Karl Stefanovic with his wife Cass, and their children Ava (left), Jackson (centre) and River (right).

Angela Mollard’s opinion piece followed what was a celebratory weekend at the Today Show camp, who claimed victory over rival breakfast program Sunrise in the ratings war.

In the opinion piece, Mollard explained how the photos of Karl celebrating with his production team — laughing and drinking — had her wondering what Cass would be doing at home with the kids.

“Instantly I thought of Cassandra Thorburn, doubtless at home with the couple’s three kids,” Mollard wrote.

“For her there would be no champagne, no herograms from the boss, no celebrations for a job well done.

“If you’re a woman in the 21st century, if you’ve gone to school and possibly university, and you’ve had a career before you married then for the love of your own self-worth hang on to your paid work in any way you can.

“I can imagine how it feels to support your husband, to hold everything together at home, to accommodate the unpredictability of breaking news which means your partner constantly going away at a moment’s notice.”

Karl celebrating on the weekend with Today Show colleagues. Picture: Instagram.

Ms Thorburn said that for the past decade while Karl’s popularity skyrocketed, the media “showed no interest” in her life as a stay-at-home mum; until now.

“It’s such a shame that the biggest critics of women seem to be other women,” she said.