Lisa Wilkinson opened up about feeling “humiliated” and “betrayed” by her former employer, Channel 9, upon hearing the news she had been effectively “dismissed” from the Today show.
WATCH: Karl Stefanovic praises former co-host Lisa Wilkinson
Sitting down with Hamish Macdonald on The Project, Lisa got candid ahead of the release of her memoir, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, where she discussed leaving the network in October 2017, her relationship with former co-host Karl Stefanovic, and more.
“I was standing in aisle six at Woolies holding a can of tuna,” Lisa recalled of hearing the news she’d been “dismissed” by Nine.
“I felt stupid and humiliated and betrayed and pretty pathetic.”
She continued, “But no one knew that I had this offer from Channel 10. I think the idea was to humiliate me because I’d been in negotiations to try and close the gender pay gap.”
Lisa explained that negotiations had been in place to attempt to close the pay gap with her co-host of 10 years, Karl Stefanovic.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than the gap that I experienced. I was very expendable. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to your audience. I was told ‘That’s it.”
Lisa, a former magazine editor, was reportedly on a $1.1 million a year contract, with Nine only willing to increase the amount to $1.8 million, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Meanwhile, Karl reportedly raked in a whopping $2 million a year with a potential bonus that could take his salary to $3 million, according to The Australian.
Despite Lisa and Karl’s decade together on the show, Lisa admitted she no longer has a relationship with her former colleague.
“Look, we’re not really in touch,” she revealed, before telling a producer off-camera, “I’d rather we didn’t use this if you don’t mind, because I don’t want to look like I’m… you know …
“But I was hurt,” she continued. “I was hurt. But you pick up and you move on and that’s exactly what I did.”
Lisa’s book It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This is out on November 3rd.
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