Karl Stefanovic has denied claims that his wife Jasmine Yarbrough was responsible for the end of his 21-year marriage with Cassandra Thorburn.
In a new interview with Stellar, the Today show host said Yarbrough has had to endure public condemnation since they met in late 2016.
“She’s been through so much. She’s been pilloried and accused of things that didn’t happen,” Stefanovic said.
“It’s not her fault she fell in love with bugalugs, and the accusations were wrong about her stealing me from Cassandra. It’s rubbish and it’s hurtful.
“She’s just a beautiful, sweet woman from Queensland who runs a business and fell in love with me.”
Stefanovic was axed from Today days after his wedding to Yarbrough in December 2018. He made his return to the breakfast show earlier this year alongside Allison Langdon.
“People were saying to me, ‘You’ve lost the female demographic,’ and I’m not being arrogant or saying that didn’t happen, but I had so many lovely women coming up to me, women who have been divorced, saying: ‘I know there is a lot more going on here than we’re seeing. Keep going and don’t listen.’”
Stefanovic’s ex-wife Thorburn is now co-hosting the podcast Divorce Story – Surviving Separation, where she and journalist Annaliese Dent discuss the subject of marriage breakdown with experts and divorced women.
When asked about Thorburn’s project, Stefanovic said: “She’s earned the right to talk about whatever she wants. That’s just not how I would have done it. Whatever she does in her career and her life, I wish her the very best.”
This article originally appeared on Over60.