Georgie Gardner opens up about 'very tough week'
Today hosts Georgie Gardner and Deborah Knight have opened up about the “hurtful” scrutiny they’ve received during the show’s “tricky” transition period.
The duo spoke out during a lengthy interview on Kyle and Jackie O’s KIIS radio show this morning.
The new-look Today launched to much fanfare — but poor ratings — last Monday, and the two women said they were still “finding their banter” together.
“(Two female hosts) is a new format for the Australian market, so it’s been getting a lot of attention. But it’s the best people for the job, regardless of your gender. We play to our strengths — we’re both very different people and we’re finding our banter as a duo,” said Knight.
Gardner said that on their first day on air she could feel “the heaviness of that scrutiny”.
“You just can’t hide in TV. Every look, every expression, every side glance is analysed and scrutinised. Often the analysis of it is quite wrong, by the way,” she said.
“Also, we were written off in the first half-hour of the show. This commentary was coming through … Usually when you review a show, you wait for it to finish,” Knight said.
Talk turned to former Today host Karl Stefanovic’s dramatic ousting from the show at the end of last year, following persistent rumours of bad blood between he and Gardner.
She denied knowledge of any “secret meetings” to remove her former co-host.
“No secret meetings. I’d actually left town and was quite removed. Obviously I was involved and consulted out of respect in terms of who’d be Karl’s replacement. As you’d expect, given the importance and stature of the gig, there was a lot of discussion and consultation. When they said it was Deb, I was as thrilled as anyone,” she said.
December’s dramatic Today reshuffle saw Karl leave Today, his brother Peter leave Nine completely after 15 years, Peter’s wife Sylvia Jeffreys leave her role as newsreader on Today, and veteran Richard Wilkins refocus on Today Extra to make way for new Today entertainment reporter Brooke Boney.
The departures were announced in quick succession — and Gardner appeared momentarily emotional when asked about saying goodbye to so many of her co-stars.
“Jokes aside, it was a very tough week. They were my colleagues and they were my team last year. That’s been a tricky transition,” she said.
Some viewers weren’t thrilled about the churn, and let Today know — which Gardner and Knight then used as fodder to see out their first week as co-hosts. Last Friday, the pair had a chuckle at their own expense as they read out some of the more pointed viewer feedback they’d received.
“The feedback we welcome, but there was a fair bit of negative feedback along the way. You’ve got to laugh. Some of it was pretty funny … a lot of it was pretty hurtful,” said Knight.
“Wrinkly old witch needs Botox; that’s one I got,’” Gardner recalled.
“There was also a suggestion that Deb and I should talk about tampons — because when two women get together, that’s all we talk about, isn’t it?”
Kylie and Jackie O even brought up the Karl-sized elephant in the room, asking Knight if she’d heard from the man whose job she’d taken.
“Yeah I have; he’s a great mate of mine. He wished me all the best, and I did to him as well,” she said.
“I agree, he’s in a good place. He sent me a lovely message on day one last week, and I think the next chapter for him is going to be super exciting,” Gardner said.
Stefanovic remains with Channel 9, where he will this year focus on his prime time show This Time Next Year.
Kyle ended the interview by calling Stefanovic live on air — a call that went to voicemail.
“That was a total screen,” Knight said.
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