EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Wilkinson Drops Bombshell Response to Fans Demanding She Rejoin Karl – Sarah Abo’s Exit Sparks Chaos!
Lisa Wilkinson has revealed where her priorities are amid calls for her to step back into the hot seat on Channel 9’s Today show.
She had a brief appearance last week to promote her new book and was quickly flooded with messages from fans begging her to co-host with Karl Stefanovic again.
She and Karl hosted the breakfast program for 10 years, but Sarah Abo has been alongside Karl since 2023.
Sarah is set to go on maternity leave in August and even suggested Lisa could take over her role while the new mum raises her baby.
But the 55-year-old former TV presenter has revealed to Woman’s Day what her future holds.
“I’m travelling the country giving talks on the book, which is a joy,” she said.
Her book is about a young nurse from South Australia called Evelyn Marsden. She was the only Australian-born survivor on board the Titanic when it sank.
Lisa has spent three years researching and writing the biography, and it was finally released earlier this month.
As a result, her diary is pretty stacked at the moment.
“Right now it’s all about Evelyn,” she told Woman’s Day. “There has also been some interest in taking Evelyn’s story to the screen, so we’ll see.”
Who will replace Sarah Abo on the Today show?
Yahoo Lifestyle did a survey on social media to see who Australia wanted to temporarily replace Sarah Abo during her maternity leave.
More than 1,500 people responded and Lisa came in third with only 158 supporters.
Channel 9 presenter Sophie Monk was last in the polling with 106 votes, and Samantha Armytage secured silver with 325 votes.
The clear winner was Today Extra presenter Sylvia Jeffreys with nearly 1,000 votes.
Have your say here
Sylvia has been with Channel 9 for more than a decade and has filled in on the breakfast program multiple times.
She could be a low-risk choice who could step in with minimal disruption for the audience.
Plus, Sylvia is married to Karl’s brother Peter, which could play into the show’s existing chemistry.
Media commentator Andrew Mercado told Yahoo Lifestyle Nine will likely look internally for Sarah’s temporary replacement.
“They’ll move someone in-house…they’ll be able to get one of their many female reporters to do a stand-in while she has maternity leave,” he said.
Today has been in a decades-long ratings battle with Channel 7’s breakfast program Sunrise.
Andrew said any type of shake-up in the lineup could cause panic with viewers, putting more weight on the decision.
“Because audiences keep falling away, it’s making everybody in television terrified to make any sort of decision that involves a change,” Andrew said.
“They’re so terrified that if they make the wrong move, they’ll lose more viewers.”
Yahoo Lifestyle understands Nine is still working out who will take over Sarah’s role when she goes on maternity leave.