Jessica Rowe has opened up about her one-off feud with Karl Stefanovic and told her podcast listeners on Saturday that she’s no longer teasing the high-profile TV star.
The popular 52-year-old journalist was left bitter after she was sacked as Karl’s co-host on Channel Nine’s Today show in 2007.
She never spoke to Karl again until the star appeared on her Listnr Jessica Rowe Big Talk Show podcast a year ago.
Jessica Rowe (pictured) has spoken out about her forgiveness towards her former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic following her humiliating release from Channel Nine in 2007. She thanked the high-profile star on Saturday during her Listnr Jessica Rowe Big Talk Show podcast
Karl, now 48, tearfully apologized on the show and told Jessica he could have done more to protect her.
The outspoken mother-of-two took advantage of her podcast’s one-year anniversary on Saturday to revisit the subject of her layoff.
In an emotional statement, Jessica said Karl’s apology took off a “weight of resentment” that she had carried for a long time.
“I didn’t want to wear it, but it was there. It was my baggage and I felt lighter after our conversation,” she said.
Jessica was bitter after being fired as Stefanvoic’s co-host on Channel Nine’s Today Show in 2006. She never spoke to Karl again until the star appeared on her podcast Listnr Jessica Rowe Big Talk Show a year ago. Image: Karl Stefanovic and Jessica on Today
She thanked Karl for his “willingness to be vulnerable.”
Karl had appeared as Jessica’s first-ever guest on her now-popular podcast, telling listeners that if he’d had his time through, he would have done things differently.
“Part of the reason I’m here today is to apologize to you,” Karl said on Jessica’s podcast.
“I’m really sorry. I wasn’t a good host and I certainly wasn’t a great co-host.
Karl, now 48, tearfully apologized on Jessica’s podcast and told his host he could have done more to protect her. Jessica had invited Karl to appear on her podcast so they can talk about the drama and finally put the past to bed
Speaking to Stellar Magazine, the author recalled the awkwardness of seeing her former co-star Karl Stefanovic for the first time a year after she left. Pictured together on the Today Show in 2006
A year ago, Jessica explained to Stellar Magazine why she asked Karl to appear on the show after the horrific humiliation of her 2007 release.
“I remember seeing Karl once at an airport. He was walking with some people and I was walking with some people and we just said hello but we had never talked about what happened between us,” she said.
Jessica had invited Karl to appear on her podcast so they can talk about the drama and finally put the past to bed.
“Even though it’s been almost 15 years, there are some things that never leave you and feel unresolved, even though we’ve both moved on in our lives and we’re both much happier people now than we were then,” she said.
After 15 years, Jessica said she was still bitter after her 2007 release from Nine
In 2006, Jessica was thrust into the limelight when she joined Nine Network from Channel 10 to replace Tracy Grimshaw as co-host of the Today show.
But scandal ensued when Eddie McGuire, Nine’s chief executive, reportedly asked when he could “bone” Jessica, with reports suggesting he was about to “fire” her at the time.
He reportedly made the comments during a conversation with his then-deputy Jeffrey Browne and Nine’s head of news and current affairs, Mark Llewellyn.
“What are we going to do about Jessica? When should we bone them? I’m guessing it should be next week,” McGuire reportedly asked.
Llewellyn then allegedly told McGuire that if they fired her, the network could risk losing Jessica’s husband, Nine News reporter Peter Overton as well.
McGuire reportedly replied, “Maybe we have to take that risk,” before Browne added, “She’s a laughing stock and if we keep her on the air, we’re going to be the laughing stock.”
Headlines: In 2006, then-CEO of Channel Nine Eddie McGuire (right) reportedly asked other executives when he could ‘bone’ (i.e., fire) Jessica as co-host of the Today show. McGuire has since denied using the term “bones” in the conversation
McGuire has since denied using the term “bones” in the conversation, which was substantiated by Llewellyn’s affidavit (released after he left the network for rival Station Seven).
Discussing the “banging” incident years later, Jessica said people forget “how powerful words can be and how they can hurt like hell,” adding that she’s still “terribly upset” about it that is what happened.
“This year was a terrible time in my life and it wasn’t helped by public abuse, abuse within the network I worked on and abuse from someone in charge of that particular network,” she told the Sydney Morning in 2016 herald .
“It was horrific and it pre-empted a very dark time in my life. A whole lot of factors went into making a perfect storm… and it just makes me terribly sad.”
Jessica left the Today Show in 2007 after returning from maternity leave. She later joined Channel Seven as a news anchor and presenter on Weekend Sunrise
In 2013 Jessica joined Network Ten and hosted the morning show Studio 10 alongside Ita Buttrose, Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris and Denise Drysdale. In March 2018, she announced that she was leaving the program to spend more time with her family
Jessica was then fired from the Today Show in 2007 after returning from maternity leave.
She then joined Channel Seven as a presenter for Seven News in Sydney before taking part in Dancing with the Stars.
Jessica joined Weekend Sunrise in late 2010 and stayed there for three years.
In 2013 she signed to Network Ten and hosted the morning show Studio 10 alongside Ita Buttrose, Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris and Denise Drysdale.
In March 2018, she announced that she was leaving the program to spend more time with her family.
Jessica admitted she felt like a “failure” for not fighting the layoff. “I didn’t have the emotional, mental or financial strength to take on Nine. And that also made me feel like a failure,” she said