When Karl Stefanovic took to Sydney Harbour for a PDA-filled luxury cruise with his much-younger model girlfriend last week, he looked like a man without a care in the world. But while the Today host knocked back champagne and flaunted his new romance to the world, it seems his ex-colleague Lisa Wilkinson and ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn have been busy forging ahead with plans to move onwards and upwards.
Determined to put her ugly divorce after 21 years of marriage to Karl behind her, former journalist Cass is reportedly just ‘weeks away’ from finalising a new media career that could make her even more successful than her Logie-winning ex.
Lisa, meanwhile, spent the week in LA in high-powered meetings with top Hollywood TV bosses amid rumours that she ‘will be the next Oprah’ – which could make Karl’s $2 million salary ‘look like loose change’ compared to her new high-powered global deal.
The Aussie mum also co-hosted a gala Hollywood event with Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino – putting her squarely among the A-list set.
‘Karl is sitting pretty with his big TV salary and his model girlfriend – but he has a shock coming,’ says an industry source.
‘Cass and Lisa’s big new career plans will leave him for dust – they could just have the last laugh.’
Australia was stunned when Lisa walked out on Today after Channel Nine bosses refused to pay her the same as Karl, with the network’s CEO telling reporters her male co-host was ‘worth more’ than Lisa. At this time, Lisa was reportedly unhappy with Karl’s lack of support during her fight for equal pay – and the fact that network bosses had gone public with intimate details of their salary negotiations.
But now she’s been betrayed again, with Nine boss Hugh Marks last week boasting he was happy to see the back of Lisa.
‘I don’t regret it at all. It was exactly the right decision for us to make,’ Marks told The Daily Telegraph.
Just days after, Lisa was asked to co-host a Hollywood gala for the Fred Hollows Foundation with A-list stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Pacino, Rob Pattinson and Kate Beckinsale. The huge charity gala will be one of the events of the year for LA’s biggest celebrities and moves and shakers – and for Lisa to be asked to co-host alongside Leo DiCaprio is, says insiders, ‘a huge endorsement for her Hollywood career.’
Adds an insider: ‘This is exactly the revenge that will put a smile on Lisa’s face.’
And Lisa isn’t the only one who’s moved on to bigger and better things since parting ways with Today star. Karl’s ex-wife Cass has revealed her brave plan to come out of their messy split on top. Sources close to the mum-of-three says she’s in the final stages of negotiating a bold new media career – defiantly telling her trusted pals: ‘I won’t let Karl break me.’
‘Cass has become the poster child for divorced mums scorned by their husbands,’ an insider tells. ‘She’s built up a huge following from women who know what it’s like to have their heart broken by a man they’ve built a life with, and she feels she has a lot to offer them.
‘She’s speaking to various media outlets at the moment and is 100 per cent committed to building an ew career for herself. Cass doesn’t want to be the victim – she wants to come out of this divorce on top and sees no reason why she can’t be more successful and more loved than Karl by the Australia people.
‘Nothing would give her more satisfaction than being Karl at his own game after everything he’s done to her.’
Former ABC journalist Cass, 42, has been credited for helping shape Karl’s success during their long marriage – giving up her career to raise their family while he chased his TV dreams.
Now Cass is looking to put all her experience to use, with some believing she’ll make it big.
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea – out now!
