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The year was 2018. The location was the back seat of a Sydney Uber. The drama? A conversation between brothers and then Channel Nine stars Karl and Peter Stefanovic.
On the day in question Peter and his wife – fellow Nine star Sylvia Jeffreys – were overheard by the driver talking to Karl on speakerphone while in the back of the car.
Details of that conversation was later published in New Idea magazine, sending shockwaves through the set of the Today Show, for which Karl was then co-host.
Why? Because Karl didn’t hold back when discussing his fellow Today Show colleagues.
He reportedly called his co-host Georgie Gardner “wishy-washy” and a “fence sitter”. He also reportedly moaned about Today Show star and entertainment journalist Richard Wilkins who, he claimed, did not share contacts with other reporters. At one point he reportedly described bosses at Nine as “out of touch”.
The ensuing furore led to apologies from both Karl and Peter.
“Pete and I were guilty of having a spray after a Sunday BBQ. We talk a hundred times a day and hardly ever about work. Mainly about his terrible golf. But we did and the conversation was recorded. And we are sorry,” Karl said in a statement at the time.
“For the record Georgie Gardner is killing it as well. She’s the best thing to happen to the show in years. She’s hungry, she’s working hard and making the show better every day. I love working with her. Anyone says differently, they don’t know.
“P.S. I’ll be taking cabs from now on,” the star quipped.
Three months later, Karl shared details of the fallout from his faux pas in an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“Whatever comes out of my mouth I’m responsible for, and if that brings the company into disrepute, that’s on me. I accept full responsibility,” he said.
Prescient words indeed from the man who, on June 26 2026, was axed from Channel Nine after his controversial podcast interview with British far right figure Tommy Robinson.
The decision came after Australian online activist group Mad F***ing Witches to call for a boycott on the Today Show star, 51.
The same group had already successfully pressured advertisers to drop their support for the Kyle and Jackie O Show after labelling Kyle Sandilands “#vileKyle” over what they called his “violent misogyny” over the years.
In his 2018 interview with the Kyle and Jackie O Show, Karl revealed he’d sought advice from Kyle when the “Ubergate” story broke.
“I said, ‘Mate, this is just a bad place I’m in right now, a lot of other stuff’s going on too’,” Karl explained on the show.
“And he said to me, ‘Mate, I don’t think it’s a big deal. You have to say sorry, blah blah, but when you’re losing advertisers, that’s when you’ve gotta worry’.”
Eight years on, Kyle’s words now appear an eerie prediction of what was to befall both he and his good mate Karl.
But with both broadcasters now free agents there are whispers they may be planning a comeback together.
On July 1, the Daily Telegraph reported that the registration of two domain names by Kyle’s company King Kyle Group Pty Ltd suggested a potential partnership between the two is now on the cards.
The domains in question? kyleandkarl.com.au and karlandkyle.com.au.
“It is something they’ve been talking about for a while,” a source close to the pair told the outlet.
“Obviously they are the two biggest names in broadcasting in the country, it is a no-brainer.”
