‘He’s Furious’: Karl Stefanovic Brutally Dumped From TV Return as Nine Blocks Explosive Guest Appearance in ‘Huge Drama’
A Nine insider has revealed Karl Stefanovic was pulled from a live TV appearance after bosses stepped in and banned him.
An insider has revealed Karl Stefanovic was pulled from a live TV appearance on a rival network after Nine bosses intervened.
Stefanovic was scheduled to appear on Fox League’s NRL 360 on Sunday night, but was forced to pull out at the last minute.
Although the guest experience had already been promoted by Matty Johns, Stefanovic was nowhere to be seen when the weekend show aired.
Nine insiders have now revealed the Today show host did not see anything wrong with the booking when he was approached.
“Karl was asked if he could go on NRL 360, and immediately and innocently said ‘yes’,” a Nine insider told The Australian.
“He genuinely didn’t think it would be a problem because it’s not competing with Today and he’s not talking politics or current affairs.
“It wasn’t a huge drama in the end, but the answer became ‘no’.”
Instead of the scheduled appearance on the rival network, Stefanovic replaced Brad Fittler on Nine’s own rugby league program, Freddy and the Eighth.
Stefanovic launched his personal podcast in January. Picture: YouTube
Sources have claimed the intervention came from Nine’s director of morning TV Steven “Burlo” Burling.
Nine’s decision to step in is somewhat surprising in light of Stefanovic’s personal podcast, which insiders claim is directly competing with the network.
The Karl Stefanovic Show, which has amassed 7.9 million full episode views on YouTube and Spotify since launching in January, has landed a host of exclusive high-profile interviews and news stories.
Network sources said Nine is unable to stop the podcast capitalising on its success and continuing to sign up new advertisers because Stefanovic is “allowed” to do so.
“He’s allowed to do all this under the terms of his contract,” one well-placed source said.
Stefanovic’s podcast is directly competing against Nine for news stories, online viewers and digital revenue, the source noted.
It comes after the broadcaster received an unlikely show of support from his Today co-star Kendall Gilding.
Stefanovic shared an update on the success of his podcast earlier this week, thanking fans for their support and revealing how listeners’ feedback “really means a lot”.
He posted a montage of clips showcasing some of his biggest guests including Pauline Hanson, Kyle Sandilands and Barnaby Joyce.
Gilding, who worked as a reporter for Channel Seven for over 12 years before quitting for a career in social media and later joining rival broadcaster Nine, shared her support by commenting a series of hand-clapping emojis.