Seven taps Karl Stefanovic’s ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn for divorce secrets­

Seven West Media’s magazine division has commissioned a podcast series about divorce, featuring Cassandra Thorburn.

Cassandra Thorburn, right, and Annaliese Dent have teamed up for a podcast series about divorce. Picture: Yianni Aspradakis

Seven West Media is set to reignite the controversy surrounding the failed marriage of Nine Entertainment’s top star, Karl Stefanovic, by commissioning a podcast series about divorce, featuring his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn, who will tell her side of the story.

Thorburn, who split with ­Stefanovic in acrimonious circumstances more than three years ago, will focus on the breakdown of her 21-year marriage in the first instalment of the podcast series on Wednesday.

The mother of three will talk about the grief of the divorce and whether she is dating again in the podcast series, Divorce Story — Surviving Separation for New Idea magazine, which is part of Seven West Media’s publishing division, Pacific.

Karl Stefanovic with second wife Jasmine Yarbrough. Picutre: Supplied

The timing could not come at a worse time for Stefanovic, who is trying to rebuild his public image and turn around the poor ratings performance of Nine’s breakfast show, Today, which he fronts with Allison Langdon. It also comes as Stefanovic awaits the birth of his first child with second wife Jasmine ­Yarbrough.

Today continues to be thumped by Seven’s popular TV breakfast show, Sunrise, with the ABC’s News Breakfast program also chomping at its heels. Today hit a low of 171,000 across the five metropolitan cities last month, its lowest number since Stefanovic’s return on January 4. The Today show has dropped below the “magic” 200,000 number more than a dozen times this year.

Other episodes in the divorce podcast series, which Thorburn is co-hosting with journalist Annaliese Dent, will feature expert and professional advice to listeners on how to help others separate successfully.

It will also cover issues such as dealing with divorce, guiding your children through separation and relaunching yourself into the working, dating, single and parent world.

The divorce podcast series joins a growing list of 20 seasonal and regular podcasts at Pacific, including New Idea Investigates, New Idea Royals, Better Real Estate and How I Survived. Pacific’s podcast audience growth has more than doubled since October, ­according to data from podcast platform Acast.

Thorburn says she met Dent through mummy blogger Constance Hall last year during her ­appearance on Dancing with the Stars on Network Ten. They came up with the idea for the podcast ­together and pitched it to Elissa Ratliff, head of audio at ­Pacific.

“One in three marriages in Australia ends in divorce … but that doesn’t change the fact divorce is in the top two most traumatic life events,” she said.

“Going through one myself, I realised it’s still a fairly taboo subject, considered negative, and information had to be self-gathered much of the time.”