Sylvia Jeffreys and Tom Steinfort’s easy chemistry landed them the coveted Today co-hosts gig. However, viewers might be shocked to learn that Channel Nine’s new dynamic duo were once a romantic item!
Long before they became household names and married other people, Sylvia and Tom dated briefly early in their careers. Despite living in different states at the time, they reportedly met through work at Channel Nine.
Sylvia, now 40, started with Nine Brisbane in 2005 as a script assistant after completing her arts/journalism degree. Meanwhile, Tom, 42, had completed the same degree in his native Victoria, and joined Nine Melbourne as a reporter around 2006.
But New Idea’s insiders insist there won’t be any awkwardness over sharing the breakfast show couch five mornings a week, as Sylvia and Tom only had a fleeting interest in one another before becoming firm friends.
“It wasn’t anything serious – they soon realised they were much better as mates than boyfriend and girlfriend!” adds the insider. “A really strong friendship has been forged over the years, and they have huge respect for one another.”
It helps that Sylvia’s husband, fellow journalist Peter Stefanovic, is also a fan of Tom. The couple, who have been married since 2017, share sons Henry, six, and Oscar, five, and are expecting a baby girl.
“Pete loves Tom – they’ve also become great pals, so there’s no way Pete would be feeling any sort of unease with his wife’s new ‘TV husband’,” the source says.
Tom is equally loved-up with his wife, Claudia Jukic. They have daughters Frederikke, four, and Lotte, one, and coincidentally, are also expecting their third child, which Tom announced on air last week.
“We’ve got baby number three on the way. Very exciting,” he revealed.
“We didn’t find out [the sex] with the first two, so we said let’s just fly blind and see what happens.”
New Idea’s exclusive insider adds that Sylvia and Tom’s romantic past wasn’t about to deter network bosses from giving them the coveted permanent Today posts after all their years of service and support.
“Sylvia really deserved this opportunity, as does Tom, because they’ve both proven over the years that loyalty counts for a lot,” the source says.
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