Controversial claims that Cassandra Thorburn launched into a fiery rant about her ex-husband Karl Stefanovic late last year appear to have been confirmed, as audio of the interview was leaked online.
In December, reports by New Idea were published claiming the mother-of-three – who was married to the former Today show host for more than 20 years – launched a furious attack on her ex, branding him a “narcissist” and “fake”.
The news outlet claimed the former Dancing with the Stars contestant let rip as she landed in Sydney airport after a weekend in Melbourne, shortly after Karl tied the knot with new wife Jasmine Yarbrough in a lavish Mexican ceremony.
It wasn’t long before Cassandra came out in denial of the comments, claiming in an interview with Studio 10 that New Idea made the quotes up.
When asked if the comments attributed to her by the publication were true she replied: “I did no interview with New Idea.”
The journalist was then pressed by the TV hosts over where the quotes came from, to which Cassandra insisted New Idea did “make them up”.
However, audio released on YouTube this week appears to have proven the original claims were true.
Throughout the clip Cassandra can be heard slamming her ex, mentioning everything from Karl’s wedding, to his apparent comments about “being the best journalist in the world”.
“He’s thrown three weddings for goodness sake. Who needs three weddings in a year? Give us a break,” a woman, reportedly Cassandra, is heard saying. “Three weddings and a funeral. We had a funeral and it was my dad’s.
“Everything he (Stefanovic) says is about this fake person who lives in this fake castle.”
Cassandra appeared to continue her rant by referencing Karl’s “sexism experiment” in 2014 which saw him claim to wear the same Burberry suit every day for a year. He said he was doing it at the time as an experiment in sexism in the media – but Cassandra insisted he lied and never actually did.
“I mean does the country really honestly believe that he wore the same suit to work every day for a year just because he said he did?” she questioned. “Did anybody go and check every tape of every day? No, they just believed it because they said it.”
The journalist then added about her ex: “After we separated he sat me down and said, it is very hard being the best journalist in Australia, quite possibly the world.”