Entertainment

More bad news for Karl after Today suffers worst ratings in four years

Aug 08, 2018

It has without a doubt been a rough year for Karl Stefanovic.

Just over a month ago, Karl Stefanovic admitted he was left a broken man following the intense scrutiny and backlash over his marriage breakdown – and it almost pushed him to quit his TV role for good.

And on Wednesday, The Herald Sun revealed the popular morning show Today has suffered its worst ratings in four years. The publication reported TV rivals Samantha Armytage and David ‘Kochie’ Koch can already claim to be the number one Aussie breakfast show for 2018.

According to the report, Sunrise has won the most weeks of the ratings year — 22 out of 23 — across the five-city metro.

In June, Stefanovic admitted to TV Week in a rare tell-all interview that his considered walking away from TV for good, after he suffered scrutiny about his engagement with Jasmine Yarbrough.

The Today show host’s marriage to ex wife Cassandra Thorburn ended after 21 years when they divorced in October 2016. He has since moved on with Yarbrough, and they’re now planning their wedding later this year.

However, the huge interest in his tumultuous love life apparently came as a shock to the 43-year-old, who says he doesn’t know why anyone would care about his quiet home life.

“It’s complete bulls**t. Why am I of interest? I’m the world’s most boring f**king man,” he told TV Tonight.

While his marriage split made huge headlines, Stefanovic has also been caught up in an ‘Ubergate’ scandal, when a driver exposed a conversation he had with brother and fellow Channel Nine journalist Peter Stefanovic – in which the pair slammed their station colleagues.

“I’ve been broken in the last two years, but you still have to come to work and do a breakfast show,” he told TV Tonight. Admittedly, Stefanovic said he understands it comes with the job, and urged other stars and politicians not to complain about media attention as it’s to be expected.