THE BOOK SET TO DESTROY KARL
After years of silence, Lisa Wilkinson is preparing to tell all
As one of the country’s most respected journalists, Lisa Wilkinson has enjoyed a lengthy career reporting the news, not making it.
But in 2017, all that changed when the mother-of-three made headlines everywhere, after a breakdown over pay negotiations saw her sensationally quit Nine and her 10-year stint as Today
co-host alongside Karl Stefanovic.
Rumours of bitterness and infighting swirled amid Lisa’s shock departure. Now, three years on, the 60-year-old is said to be working on an explosive tell-all book that will reveal all about her highly publicised career and falling out with Nine, – and sources tell Woman’s Day
Karl is sweating bullets!
“Karl is freaking out – the timing couldn’t be worse,” reveals the insider.
“He’s in the middle of the toughest contract negotiations of his career, he’s feeling very fragile about whether he has a future and he’s terrified Lisa’s scandalous reveal will derail it all,” the source explains, who says the 46-year-old father-offour is anticipating he’ll be “thrown under the bus”.
According to the insider, Lisa, who reportedly earns $2 million anchoring The Sunday Project,
won’t hesitate to blow the Nine
“boys’ club” out of the water in her book as she’s been sitting on a “gold mine worth of dirt” for years.
“She’ll fire up about how they reward bad behaviour by paying Karl a ridiculous $3 million,” continues the source, who says Lisa was infuriated that she did the hard yards while her co-host was “the highest paid boofhead larrikin on TV”.
NATIONAL DEBATE
At the time, the pay scandal, which caused great debate over the gender pay gap, was splashed across newspapers and online news outlets across the country, prompting Nine’s CEO Hugh Marks to speak out about the situation.
“I went to an incredible amount of trouble to build a $1.8 million package for her. She wanted $2.3 million. It wasn’t a $200,000 shortfall to Karl’s $2 million magic number. It was $500,000,” Hugh said in 2017.
But it’s not just their working relationship that is said to have Karl melting down. Our source reveals Lisa could include details about the 60 Minutes star’s marital breakdown with his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn, 49, and his subsequent marriage to shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough 36.
“He is, with good reason, a tad worried that Lisa knows a lot of what went down in his personal life. What was supposed to go on tour and stay there, now may not – the word is Lisa is about to air that dirty laundry,” the source insists.
“There’s the back story around the sudden breakdown of Karl’s marriage... Lisa would’ve been privy to the details of Karl’s marriage split with Cassandra, who, by the way, Lisa has a great deal of respect for.”
While it’s said the book will also touch on her 27-year marriage to fellow journalist Peter Fitzsimons, 59, and her impressive magazine career – which includes being Dolly magazine’s youngest ever editor – it will be her television secrets and revelations that will cause the biggest stir.
Interestingly,
Carrie Bickmore is also said to feature after reports circulated that The Project host was unhappy that she was earning far less than Lisa.
“It’s no secret Lisa and Carrie aren’t exactly the best of mates,” explains the insider.
“The word is Lisa is keeping a number of key chapters light in content, in case she is punted from Ten or if Carrie or one or more of her current team are pushed out,” the source adds, noting Lisa will have plenty to say either way.
‘Lisa knows a lot of what went down in his personal life’
After racking up quite the list of former lovers willing to publicly dump on him, news of another may not seem that shocking for The Bachelor’s leading man Locky Gilbert.
But Charlie Octavia’s jaw-dropping story as the girl he strung along – right up to the day before flying out to woo 23 other women – may be the most shocking of all.
For months now, the 28-year-old Perth mother-of-two has held her tongue about her time with the man who asked her to “marry” him three weeks before he joined the mansion. But after watching the first episode, Charlie says it’s time the world knew about the man behind the tuxedo.
“To be as intimate as we were, then see Locky on TV trying to win the hearts of so many other women was surreal,” shares Charlie, who met the Survivor star two years ago, before they dated from January.
“Watching him, I could see it was all an act. He’s not looking for love on the show, more fame and attention. Locky used to tell me he loved me all the time, but I’m
glad I didn’t fall for him before I found out who he really was.”
The Perth-based pair enjoyed going to bars, watching Survivor together, partying, dancing and cuddling up in front of Netflix. Then one day, a month before filming started on The Bachelor, the reality TV hunk said the strangest thing as he lay in bed hugging Charlie.
“He asked me if I’d ever go on a reality show,” says Charlie, who answered probably not, because it wasn’t her style. “Then he said, ‘ Yeah of course... you know I’m the Bachelor this year!’ I thought he was joking, but he looked me in the eye and promised me it was true. “I didn’t know what to say. I could feel myself choking up so I got up to leave.
“After seeing how upset I was he pulled me towards him, said sorry and promised it was all a joke.
Then he blamed Survivor for making him such a good liar!”
The declarations of love continued from Locky, right up until the day before he took off to Sydney, where he fibbed he needed to be “for Survivor interviews”. “We were at a festival on his last night in Perth, when he finally confessed he was flying out to be the Bachelor,” sighs Charlie, who refused his offer to join him on the show as a contestant.
“How dare he think I’d leave my job, children and friends to follow him across the country to fight for his love, after he’d lied to me for so long,” flares Charlie.
It was the last time they would see each other, but not their last contact. Locky, 30, continued to bomb Charlie with messages over the first six weeks of filming. He even sent a picture of himself in the mansion!
“What hurts me deeply is we started seeing each other at the end of the worst year of my life and he encouraged me to be vulnerable with him, only to lie to me,” she says. “People need to know it’s not OK to toy with people’s emotions. I feel sorry for him. I believe he’s empty and tries to fill the void with constant attention.”
‘How dare he think I’d leave my job, children and friends’