“A Shocking TV Bombshell!”: Channel Nine ignites a massive media firestorm and leaves viewers completely jaw-dropped after explosive secret reports expose the ultimate, unexpected wildcard replacement pairing ready to step into the vacant Today Show throne
Australia’s longest-running breakfast show has lost both its hosts at once – and Nine appears to have no plan to replace them. Vote for your favourite.
The dramatic departure of Karl Stefanovic from Today, coupled with Sarah Abo being advised to take early maternity leave, has left broadcaster Nine scrambling to replace both hosts.
With Nine seemingly without a succession plan concerning Stefanovic and caught short for a fill-in for Abo, news.com.au today invites readers to cast a vote on who you would like to see at the helm of the nation’s longest-running television breakfast show.
Karl Stefanovic departs Nine & Today Show
To help Nine out, this columnist has gone to the trouble of compiling a list of celebrities and news identities who could step into Stefanovic and Abo’s shoes and revive the program before its shrinking audience evaporates altogether.
Readers who have been waking up with Today for years may soon be breakfasting with strangers. As a result, we’re inviting you to vote on who you’d like to see replace Stefanovic and Abo.
Sadly, there is no prize for participating, only the satisfaction of knowing news.com.au values your opinion and thinks you’re as qualified as the TV bosses currently tasked with making the call.
Former Today sports presenter/reporter turned Sydney-based 2GB breakfast radio host Ben Fordham, Stefanovic’s one-time understudy, was once considered a shoo-in for the job.
Fordham, who grew up in the Nine family, has the live broadcasting skills to step into the former host’s shoes seamlessly. The only problem is he remains under contract to 2GB until at least the end of the year.
The unrivalled king of breakfast television is of course former Sunrise star David “Kochie” Koch, who, since leaving Seven in 2023, appears to have been at a bit of a loose end in the mornings (though perhaps not for the rest of the day, with his considerable interests in business, broadcasting and AFL keeping him busy).
Victorian actor Rodger Corser, star of Nine’s Doctor Doctor and host of The Floor, is a popular outsider who, like rival Sunrise’sMatt Shirvington, would have to learn the ropes as a first-time breakfast television anchor.
Corser’s appointment would give the nation’s mums something to swoon over, something that’s sadly been missing from breakfast television on Nine for decades.
Singer David Campbell, host of Nine’s Today Extra and Smooth FM’s afternoon radio show, has tremendous appeal with women and, given he’s a team player, is well-liked at Nine.
Seven news reader Michael Usher would be a more serious alternative which, should Nine decide to differentiate itself from Sunrise by doubling down on hard news, would make him a good hire if he isn’t contract-bound to remain at Seven.
Like Usher, Nine Sydney’s newly-minted weekend newsreader Mark Burrows could bring some gravity and maturity to the breakfast show.
Also tipping towards serious rather than flippant program content are former host of ABC’s News Breakfast show Michael Rowland and Nine newsreader Tom Steinfort. Both of whom would potentially be drawcards for Today in Melbourne should the program relocate there, as is rumoured to be on the table – Rowland having lived in the city while Steinfort anchors Nine’s evening news bulletin in the southern capital.
Former The Project host Waleed Aly is, like departed host Stefanovic, a one-time Gold Logie winner.
As a lawyer and academic, the popular Aly would bring some vibrant political and social debate to the program and with them, coveted online clicks.
Nine political editor Charles Croucher is favoured for the position by Nine’s director of morning television Steve Burling, which could give him the edge over rivals.
If Nine is looking for a Karl Stefanovic “type”, it could do worse than call up Peter Stefanovic, his younger brother, who is currently honing his chops at Sky News.
For a wildcard contender, and because Nine CEO Matt Stanton has worked hard to cultivate him during recent rugby league broadcasting negotiations, this columnist finds it hard to look past ARL chairman and Racing NSW chief executive rugby league Peter V’landys.
Newly svelte, the influential Wollongong-bred V’landys is one of the nation’s most prominent sports administrators and a man renowned for getting the job done, whatever that job might be – precisely what Today could do with.
For Sarah Abo’s maternity leave cover, Nine should have no problem tapping a capable female fill-in. There are an abundance of experienced women candidates who would shine in the role.
On Nine’s shortlist is Today Extra host Sylvia Jeffreys.
At 40, the vibrant and youthful Jeffreys is in Nine’s targeted demographic and was impressive hosting Nine’s Winter Olympics’ coverage. Possibly working against her is her close association to Karl Stefanovic (she’s married to his brother Peter) – as well as her price.
Jeffreys is represented by agent by Nick Fordham, brother to broadcaster Ben and the man who in 2017 played hardball in contract negotiations on behalf of another high profile client, Lisa Wilkinson.
Sadly for Today viewers, those talks, with hopes of achieving pay parity with Stefanovic, ultimately proved unsuccessful and Wilkinson was cut loose by Nine, triggering years of talent-based instability at Today.
Wilkinson is among a handful of accomplished women who could step in and host the program at a moment’s notice and her ratings record – Today’s only wins against Sunrise during Stefanovic’s 21-year tenure occurred in 2016 when she was the co-host – speaks for itself.
Former Today host Tracy Grimshaw, another experienced TV anchor who has been vastly under-utilised by Nine in recent years, could also do the job in her sleep.
The highly-regarded news woman hosted the program for nine years until 2005 before taking the helm of Nine’s weeknight news program A Current Affair.
Former top-rating Seven and 10 newsreader and ABC 702 radio presenter Chris Bath would bring her insatiable curiosity and love for community causes to the role.
Newly out-of-work departed ARN radio personality Jackie “O” Henderson would guarantee headlines while the eternally chic Dancing with the Stars and The Voice host Sonia Kruger knows well the rigours of morning television.
As a former co-host of Nine’s Today Extra with David Campbell, she was once seen as a future Today show successor to Wilkinson.
Like Grimshaw, beloved former Nine star Liz Hayes became an Australian household name while hosting Today from 1986 to 1996.
The ABC’s Leigh Sales, a formidable interviewer and respected mentor, would be a breath of fresh air if a revamped Today were to return to its news roots.
Samantha Armytage auditioned for Today during the summer ratings break and could be looking for a new project after Nine wraps its forthcoming second season of The Golden Bachelor, which she hosts, later this year.
Amanda Keller has an extraordinary record of successes to her name, both on television and radio. Currently she’s on the GOLD network. Keller is one of few media all-rounders whose delight in the absurd and offbeat sense of humour keep her eternally young, something that could make breakfast television fun again.
Former The Project host Sarah Harris, currently reading news on the Nova radio network, appears to have turned her back on an industry in which she is well-regarded.
Along with Jeffreys, Today newsreader Jayne Azzopardi is favoured inside Nine where she’s seen as a future successor to Abo.
As Nine’s highly-paid execs consult their crystal balls – otherwise known as the focus group research they’ve commissioned – news.com.au feels confident we’ve presented two dozen excellent candidates for readers’ objective consideration.
Tingle’s touching tribute to Neill
ABC reporter Laura Tingle stunned longtime observers this week when she posted a long and moving tribute to her former partner, actor Sam Neill, who died on Monday.
While together, Tingle and Neill kept their relationship strictly private with two notable exceptions, when they stepped out together at the Mid Winter Ball in Canberra in 2018 and to the AACTAs in 2019.
Beyond that, the relationship, which reportedly ran from 2018 to 2021, was kept out of the public eye.
Hence it came as a shock when, in an out of character move this week, Tingle published 20-plus images of Neill to Instagram on Tuesday morning.
The photo gallery, accompanied by the John Hiatt song Long Time Comin’, included several images of the couple in intimate embrace.
Also on Tuesday, Tingle appeared on ABC Local radio where she discussed Neill’s death.
She was later spotted exiting Macleay Street Bistro in Potts Point after lunching with a couple of male companions, one said to be journalist David Marr.
All in all, Tingle, who was married previously to political columnist and speechwriter Alan Ramsey until 2017, revealed more about her private life this week than she has in some time.
Her comments this week stand in stark contrast to the silence from Neill’s current partner, who has maintained a low profile and remained resolutely silent following her love’s death from pneumonia at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital.