No hard feelings? Deborah Knight smiles for a selfie with Karl Stefanovic as she co-hosts the Today show… two years after their rumoured feud
Deborah Knight was rumoured to have had a strained relationship with Karl Stefanovic after replacing him as host of the Today show in 2019.
But the pair brushed their supposed feud aside on Friday when they reunited to co-host the Channel Nine breakfast show.
The 48-year-old journalist was all smiles as she posed for a selfie alongside Karl, 46, while filling in for Allison Langdon.
No hard feelings! Deborah Knight posed for a selfie with Karl Stefanovic as she co-hosted the Today show on Friday, two years after their rumoured feud
Deborah wrote in the caption: ‘Nice to hang with this crazy kid. Rare @thetodayshow time with @karlstefanovic.’
Karl had been kicked off the Today show in December 2018 after his personal life was blamed for falling ratings.
Deborah was drafted in to replace him alongside Georgie Gardner the following year.
But viewers didn’t warm to the female co-anchors and ratings plunged even further, prompting Nine to axe Georgie and Deborah and rehire Karl a year later alongside Allison.
Recovering: The 48-year-old journalist was filling in for Allison Langdon (pictured), who is recovering from an injury she sustained while filming a watersports segment earlier this month
Allison recently underwent surgery after seriously hurting her knee while filming a watersports segment for the Today show on the Gold Coast earlier this month.
During the pre-recorded segment, the co-host ‘badly’ injured her leg hydrofoiling – a relatively new watersport also known as foil surfing.
She has been off work since then, with Leila McKinnon filling in on most days.
In the past: Two years ago, Karl was accused of comparing Deborah to a horror film character after she replaced him on the Today show
Two years ago, Karl was accused of comparing Deborah to a horror film character after she replaced him on the Today show.
KIIS FM radio host Kyle Sandilands said on air in January 2019 that Karl had texted him a photo of Freddy Krueger after he’d invited him to join Today hosts Deborah and Georgie Gardner for an in-studio interview.
Freddy is the antagonist from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of films.
But Karl told Daily Mail Australia at the time that Kyle had totally misrepresented their SMS exchange, and insisted he had not been referring to Deborah and Georgie when he sent the photo of Freddy Krueger.
‘Kyle and I were talking about a former Russian president, not the Today show cast,’ Karl said. ‘He has a fertile, funny and disturbing imagination. I don’t know how Jackie [Henderson, Kyle’s radio co-host] puts up with him.
‘For the record, I wake up with Today, not KIIS. And Kyle can KIIS my a**.’
While his statement was lighthearted, behind the scenes Karl was reportedly furious with Kyle for sharing their private texts on air.
Feud? KIIS FM radio host Kyle Sandilands (pictured) said on air in January 2019 that Karl had texted him a photo of Freddy Krueger after he’d invited him to join Today hosts Deborah and Georgie Gardner for an in-studio interview
Kyle also clarified that his exchange with Karl had simply been misunderstood.
He told Daily Mail Australia that Karl had sent him the picture of Freddy Krueger, but insisted that the image referred to him, not Georgie and Deborah.
‘Karl sent back the picture of Freddy Krueger which was his way of laughing off the suggestion and insinuating I was evil for inviting him on the show with his Today host replacements,’ he said.
‘That picture of Freddy Krueger was directed at me, not the girls. It was all meant in good fun.’
Setting the record straight: At the time, both Karl and Kyle (pictured with Jackie O) claimed their SMS exchange had been misrepresented. They insisted Karl had directed the Freddy Krueger image at Kyle to show how ‘evil’ he was, and was not referencing Deborah and Georgie