Jessica Rowe opens up on "bitterness and resentment" towards Karl
On the latest episode of The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, the popular host has spoken out about the feelings of "resentment and bitterness" against former Today show co-host Karl Stefanovic following losing her job with Channel Nine, now 15 years ago.
After Rowe took over Tracy Grimshaw's seat on the show in 2006, she was almost immediately criticised for a range of "issues", including not having enough chemistry with Stefanovic, plus attacks over her hair, her laugh and her weight.
Taking time off for maternity leave in 2007, she was soon let go over reported "payment disputes”.
At the time it was alleged that former CEO of the Nine Network Eddie McGuire – who held the position from 1998-2021 – had pushed for Rowe to be sacked during a meeting with executives. Rowe herself revealed that she had never had a conversation about her departure with Stefanovic until last year, when he appeared on her podcast to apologise for not doing more to protect her.
Revealing more details about her history with Stefanovic on her latest podcast episode, Rowe revealed that her time co-hosting was "pretty rocky ... and that's an understatement".
She spoke about how Stefanovic "generously" had a conversation with her on her podcast last year, and at the time she was still holding onto her issues.
“From my perspective, there was bitterness and resentment,” she said.
“And I don’t like feeling like that, because it eats you up. They’re such negative emotions. But for me, I found it hard to move past that. There was always this part of me that felt heavy, or I’d look at Karl’s success and there’d be a part of me that would feel jealous and resentful: ‘Hey, why is that happening to you, and it’s not happening to me?’”
During the podcast last year, Stefanovic addressed the issues between them, speaking to her about it for the first time.
"There was no protection and there was nothing and, you know, at the end of the day it taught me to be tough and it taught me to have a thick skin and to be able to know where the line is but it did take me a long time to get there," Karl said.
"And unfortunately for you, it was like, you didn't have a guy next to you, who could have protected you and helped you in the way that I should have and for that, I'm always sorry."
In her latest podcast episode, Rowe said both she and Stefanovic were nervous when he sat down for their chat last year, adding that his apology had finally freed her of the resentment she had been holding.
“Hearing those words from Karl meant so much to me and I hadn’t expected it to have the impact that it did,” she said.
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