Karl Did he get married?! Plus, the secret Uber tape
The Today co-host left everyone, including his own kids, guessing if he really did get hitched after a secret ‘commitment ceremony’
Love-struck Karl Stefanovic and his shoe designer fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough exchanged vows under a minimalist arch overlooking Palm Beach in Sydney last weekend in front of just 30 of their closest friends and family members.
But even after the surprise event, no one seemed to actually know if the lovebirds had tied the knot legally in what Karl called a “commitment ceremony”. His own brother Peter described it simply as a “little barbecue”.
The Today co-host’s two younger children, Ava, who turns 13 this week, and River, 11, were on a regular designated weekend visit with their famous dad and had no clue what he was planning until three hours before the ceremony.
“They had absolutely no idea it was happening, even in the morning, and it was only a few hours before it all unfolded that they found out there was going to be a commitment ceremony – whatever that is,” confirms a family friend.
“Karl told River and Ava to go for a walk to the lighthouse after they got back from their Saturday morning sport, and when they got back to the house, there were staff setting up chairs and tables and flowers. It was a lot for them to take in.
“They headed to the beach when they saw the ceremony was about to start, and stayed away
‘The kids had absolutely no idea it was happening’
until it was all over. They sat on the beach and the show went on without them. They returned to the house afterwards and played in the pool.”
Karl’s eldest child, Jackson, 18, was not invited to the ceremony, and family friends confirm he has been estranged from his father for some time.
The guests included Jasmine’s parents Cheryl and Bob, her 91-year-old grandmother and her sister Jade, Karl’s mum Jenny, and brothers Peter and Tom and their wives.
Karl, 43, was officially divorced from his first wife, TV producer and journalist Cassandra Thorburn, 46, in October last year after 21 years of marriage. He announced his engagement to Jasmine, 34, last month.
So why not just get married, as one Today fan asked on the show’s Facebook page last week?
“Everyone at the house seemed to think it was something different,” explains the family friend. “Ava and River were told by various guests that it was a wedding rehearsal or a commitment ceremony or a party. One relative even told them it was a family reunion. No wonder they were confused!”
Karl did little to clear up the mystery, telling Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph it was a “commitment ceremony” and that it was “lovely”.
Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t a backyard barbecue, with Jasmine wearing a highnecked Dolce & Gabbana frock she secured at New York Fashion Week last month. And guests feasted on lobster, crab, prawns and freshly shucked oysters, while waiters served vintage French champagne.
Karl’s sister-in-law, Today presenter Sylvia Jeffreys, called it a “very special occasion” full of love and laughter, and wished the couple “big love”, but did little to solve the mystery of his apparent wedding.
It’s no secret there is little love lost between Today co-hosts Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner. But if rumours of a secret recording of Peter Stefanovic, 36, talking to Karl about Georgie, 46, are correct, it may turn into an all-out war between the two stars.
“Of course, Georgie wants to know exactly what they were saying about her,” a Nine source reveals. “She’s furious and demanding to hear the recording. She made it clear when she came back to Today, she wasn’t going to put up with Karl’s antics.”
The bombshell recording of Peter talking on loudspeaker to his brother – about Georgie and a number of powerful people at Channel Nine – was allegedly recorded by his Uber driver, and is now being shopped around the media to the highest bidder.
Nine has denied splashing out “five figures” to buy the damaging recording, leading to speculation a wealthy friend of the brothers may have bought it off the market to head off the explosive crisis.
“Georgie is pissed off, and there were crisis meetings about it last week, with Nine executives in damage control," the Nine source explains. “But she’s yet to receive an apology – and she deserves one!”
‘She’s furious and demanding to hear the recording’