This was published 1 year ago
Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo: ‘Chemistry is either there or it’s not’
Breakfast television is a juggernaut into which one does not step lightly. For Syrian-born Abo, an unwavering focus on the audience – and its ability to spot insincerity – is serving her well.
Stefanovic wears a Giorgio Armani jacket and shirt, and Okanui shorts. Abo wears a Giorgio Armani dress and Jimmy Choo shoes.Credit: Hugh Stewart
Journalist Sarah Abo is, in her own words, “a real Melbourne girl”. She moved there from Syria with her family when she was four, barracks hard for Collingwood, only begrudgingly admits Sydney’s restaurants pass muster – and, yes, she’s wearing black. “My blood runs black, it’s so Melbourne,” she says.
But when breakfast television comes knocking, you don’t refuse, so this year, at age 37, Abo and her husband Cyrus upped and moved to Sydney, so she could take her dream job as co-host of Channel 9’s Today show (Nine is the owner of this masthead).
It is one of the biggest gigs in Australian media, and comes with antisocial hours, huge pressure and extreme scrutiny. And Abo gets to share that stage with arguably the biggest personality in television, Karl Stefanovic. Hundreds of thousands of Australians have woken up with Stefanovic for most of the past 20 years. His co-hosts have included Jessica Rowe, Lisa Wilkinson and, most recently, Allison Langdon. It is a juggernaut into which one does not step lightly.
For executives, a new breakfast TV pairing is a huge punt – less so this time because Abo had filled in on the show before. So far, the experiment seems to be a success. After a patchy 2022, Today is holding close to Seven’s Sunrise in 2023, and winning on the east coast (Seven is dominant in Perth).
‘We are journos at the end of the day, so we’re interested in the root of the story.’
SARAH ABO, TODAY
Interviewing the pair at the Sunday Life shoot, it’s clear there’s a genuine warmth between them. Abo says chemistry is impossible to manufacture. “It’s either there or it’s not,” she says. “We all get along, we all have a laugh.” There’s all the typical mischief when the cameras aren’t rolling. “The ad breaks are probably the best part of the show.”
Stefanovic says if you enjoy each other’s company, respect each other and care about the craft, it works. “It should be nothing but easy.”
A self-described night owl, Abo has had to adjust to the oppressive schedule of breakfast television. She once slept through her alarm while filling in last year, which naturally led to a good-natured on-air roasting from Stefanovic and the team. Lesson learnt. “I try to get to sleep at 8pm, but it’s probably closer to 9pm,” she says of her new routine. “I set four alarms and as soon as the first one goes off, I shoot straight out of bed.”
Abo wears a dress by Paco Rabanne from Parlour X, shoes by Jimmy Choo. Stefanovic wears Giorgio Armani shirt, pants and shoes.Credit: Hugh Stewart
Some people have a skewed perception of breakfast TV, thinking that it’s all cheeseburger-eating competitions and entertainment interviews. And while those things do feature on Today, in reality the hosts have to do it all, moving seamlessly from interrogating the prime minister to canvassing the morning’s news and providing light relief over three-and-a-half hours.
“On any given day from 5.30am until 7.30am, we hit the news as hard as the ABC,” Stefanovic says. “It’s a monolith … and it’s unfair to label a show as anything when it really is a banquet of stories and a banquet of emotions. If we’ve done our job, we’ve navigated through all those differences in the smoothest and most enjoyable, entertaining and informative way.”
Abo came up the ranks through Channel 10 and SBS, then joined Nine as a reporter on 60 Minutes. There, she covered major stories including the violation of 13 Australian women by staff at Doha airport in 2020. Five of the women – who were subjected to invasive gynaecological examination – are now suing Qatar Airways for alleged assault. “We are journos at the end of the day, so we’re interested in the root of the story,” Abo says.
They relish the opportunity to sink their teeth into big breaking news, or to break down a politician’s talking points in an interview. Both agree the show’s strength lies in its dynamism. “The show that we start off with at 5.30am isn’t necessarily the show we end up with at 9.10am. It changes almost every hour,” says Abo.
On the day of this interview, they spoke with Australian Olympic runner Peter Bol for a full 10 minutes following revelations independent testing had cleared him of doping. “We wouldn’t have done that three or four years ago,” says Stefanovic.
‘If we get it right, it’s exhilarating and there’s no better job. But when you get it wrong... they will let you know.’
KARL STEFANOVIC, TODAY
Breakfast TV is notoriously competitive, though Abo and Stefanovic say they don’t expend a lot of time or energy obsessing about what their rivals are up to. Their focus is firmly on the viewers’ feedback, which can be brutal. “If we get it right, it’s exhilarating and there’s no better job,” Stefanovic says. “But when you get it wrong – let me tell you, people, no matter if they live in Bundaberg or Bunbury, or in Cairns or Capalaba, they will let you know.”
That criticism is often gendered. On International Women’s Day last month, ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar called out the “foul, disgusting personal abuse” she received on Twitter, which was then republished by some digital news outlets.
Happily, Abo, who is not on Twitter, says she’s only encountered supportive commentary. It’s the cue Stefanovic was waiting for. “You have been rubbished from pillar to post,” he jests.
Abo joins in the joke. “Who invited that brunette? No one wants her. Send her back to Victoria!” They laugh, and Stefanovic sets the record straight: “She is the most popular person on the show by a country mile.”
While there is still a lot of room for improvement in the diversity stakes, the media industry has come a long way. Abo is Syrian-Australian, Stefanovic is of Serbian background, news and entertainment presenter Brooke Boney is a proud Gamilaroi woman who started her career at NITV, while sports reporter Alex Cullen is, as Stefanovic teases, “the token white guy from country NSW”. More important, says Abo, is diversity of views and opinions. “You don’t want everyone to be from the same suburb and have the same upbringing because that’s just so boring. You want people who have had a diverse life and different experiences, who can bring that to the show.”
Media writers and gossip columnists would no doubt beg to differ, but both presenters say the TV world has also changed for the better by largely eradicating the notorious trope of the oversized, macho-man ego.
“Back in the day, there were a few of them wandering around,” Stefanovic says. “If you’re an ego [now], you are gone. It’s just not happening.” He also points to women in top positions at Nine: 60 Minutes executive producer Kirsty Thomson and A Current Affair EP Fiona Dear. “These are big jobs, and you can see the industry changing now for the better.”
Stefanovic wears Giorgio Armani tuxedo and shoes. Abo wears P.Johnson Femme tuxedo and Jimmy Choo shoes.Credit: Hugh Stewart
Breakfast television is not just demanding on time and commitment; it turns its presenters into celebrities and compels them to open up their lives to the viewers. Abo says the audience knows if you’re being fake, so you might as well be yourself. “You’ve got nowhere to hide,” she says.
She is still adjusting to the sudden appearance of paparazzi in the streets (they’re more common in her new home town than back in Melbourne), but for the most part she is comfortable with the new-found attention.
‘So it sort of comes with the territory that there’d be an interest in what Karl’s up to in Noosa.’
SARAH ABO, TODAY
Of course, that kind of press is not always flattering. Abo started at Today in January just as footage was published of Stefanovic and cricketer Michael Clarke engaged in a public fracas while on holiday in Noosa. In the middle of the summer-news dead zone, the story was a firecracker.
If it made Abo’s debut more daunting, she isn’t dwelling on it. “There seems to be a real interest in the program because we’re welcomed into people’s households every single day,” she says. “So it sort of comes with the territory that there’d be an interest in what Karl’s up to in Noosa.”
Stefanovic, whose bromance with Clarke is reportedly over, gives a rare “no comment”. He is much more effusive when asked how Abo’s presence has changed the show over the past three months.
“The show has benefited in a tremendous way from having Sarah on it,” he says. Her Victorian knowledge and sensibilities – while incredibly annoying, he jokes – have given the program zest. “We are people who try to get the right vibe and energy for a story and there’s nothing better than local knowledge.”
Likewise, Abo says of her veteran co-host: “Without sounding like a wanker or a dickhead, I think what Karl does every single morning … he brings it, and the audience loves it.”
Fashion editor, Penny McCarthy; Hair, Travis Balcke; Make-up, Aimie Fiebig; Styling assistant, Emmerson Conrad.
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