Karl Stefanovic says he uncovered a “childhood trauma” he never knew existed while doing breathwork.
Last week, while interviewing Pete Evans on his podcast, Karl opened up about a “cathartic” experience he’d had recently.
The former Today Show host explained that during a recent breathwork session, he realised he’d been blaming his mother for not being able to spend more time with him when his brothers were really young.
“The first couple of times I did it, easy peasy, loved it, really loved going inside myself and finding this stuff that came up out of nowhere,” he explained.
The 52-year-old went on to explain that the last time he did breathwork, something about his mother “came up”.
“I went really deep and I came up with this childhood trauma that I didn’t even think was a trauma…” he told the former TV chef.
“And that was that Mum was very busy with my two brothers… there was a gap of about three years when she was busy looking after them… and this thing screamed out at me and it said ‘she wasn’t there for you but it’s okay’.
“And for me that was cathartic.”
The controversial podcaster said he called his mother straight away and told her what happened, and she was initially upset about it.
“It was about me going, you know Mum, I realise now that there was something there that I may have blamed you for when I was a kid,” he explained.
“But I want you to know that’s just not the case, I understand completely, and it was just a complete weight out of my emotional being.”
Karl has a close relationship with his mum Jenny and his younger brothers, Pete and Tom. He doesn’t speak publicly about his father, but in 2017, Alex Stefanovic told New Idea that he’d “barely” spoken to his sons in 25 years.
“I have nothing to do with either of them,” he said, referring to Karl and Pete. “They walked away from me 25 years ago following my divorce from their mother. We’ve barely spoken since. That’s the reality.”
The then 70-year-old claimed his relationship with his sons is “beyond repair”.
“We’re done. I won’t see Karl or his brother Peter again in this life, maybe the next,” he said. “I have nothing to do with either of them.”
“Karl and I haven’t had much communication for 10 years. He can’t even call me ‘Dad’, he calls me ‘big fella’,” he continued.
“Being a parent is like watching a bad movie. You keep thinking it’s going to get better but it never does.”
