STEFANOVIC’S NEW RELATIONSHIP HELL
TELEVISION STARS PETER STEFANOVIC AND SYLVIA JEFFREYS ARE FAR FROM THE THROES OF NEWLYWED BLISS
erious concerns for the future of the media duo’s marriage have been raised in recent weeks. According to sources close to the couple, Peter, 36, and Sylvia, 32, are still trying to recover from the shocking leaked Uber conversation that’s left them picking up the pieces of their troubled marriage.
Putting on a brave face, Today presenter Sylvia has no choice but to continue working alongside the same people her husband blasted in the heated telephone call to his brother Karl, leaving her loyalties torn.
‘Sylvia is one of the most popular people at the station,’ says a well-placed insider.
‘She is the golden girl and has formed a lot of close friendships. The same can’t really be said for Pete who comes across as very personable on TV, but has always been a bit of an outsider in the office.’
And working daily with Georgie Gardner, Richard Wilkins and the network bosses, who were all on the receiving end of the late-night drunken tirade from the close-knit siblings, has left Sylvia in an awkward position.
‘The whole thing is so embarrassing for her,’ says the insider. ‘She has worked with these people for years and they all knew she was sitting right there when that call took place.’
After admitting that his wife takes the brunt of his workplace woes, saying it was ‘terrible’ and she ‘deserved better’, things have now gone from bad to worse for the bubbly blonde, who has begun receiving backlash from viewers.
‘What do you see in him?’ asked one fan on an Instagram photo she posted along side her beau at a charity event.
‘She is no Georgie Gardner,’ stated another.
And now, with the future of Peter’s television career in question, the pair have been forced to take drastic steps in their relationship.
Making no secret of the fact she ‘would love a house full of kids’, the power couple were in the midst of developing their $2.7 million estate in Sydney’s Double Bay to make it more child-friendly when the fateful next step in their lives occurred.
Having to consider putting baby plans on hold for fears they may soon become a one-income household has added even more pressure to their strained relationship.
‘They wanted to get the house sorted so they could start a family, but they honestly don’t know if Peter’s contract will be renewed and financially that’s a massive blow to them after spending a small fortune on renovations. They were hoping for more options around maternity leave as Sylvia always had the support of the executives to take off as much time as she wanted.’
And while she knows Peter could become a stay-at-home dad should it come to that, the star feels like he has let his new wife down.
‘That’s an option of course, but the point is the decisions have to work around the situation he has put them in now,’ the insider spills.
‘Pete is old school in many ways and wants to provide. He feels just awful about it all.’
But having only just wed her husband last April in an intimate ceremony in the foothills of Kangaroo Valley, there is no question Sylvia is standing by her man.
‘She loves him and even though he has been a fool and could have cost them both their careers she wants to be there for him because he needs her support more than ever. He is really suffering from this,’ says the insider.