Karl Stefanovic

Karl Stefanovic is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and podcaster. Born on 12 August 1974, he is best known for his long career with the Nine Network, where he co-hosted the morning television program Today and worked as a contributing reporter for 60 Minutes. Over the course of his television career, he also hosted programs such as The Verdict and This Time Next Year, alongside the annual broadcast of Carols by Candlelight.

Stefanovic was born in the inner-Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst to a Serbian-German father and an Australian mother, and was raised in Capalaba, Queensland. He was educated at St Augustines College in Cairns, the Anglican Church Grammar School, and the Queensland University of Technology, where he earned a journalism degree in 1994. Unable to immediately secure a journalism cadetship after graduating, he auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art but did not make the final selection. He subsequently began his reporting career with WIN Television in Rockhampton and Cairns in 1994.

In 1996, Stefanovic joined TVNZ as a reporter for One Network News in New Zealand. He returned to Australia in 1998 to report and present for Ten News in Brisbane, while also filling in as a news presenter in Sydney. He joined the Nine Network in 2000 as a Brisbane reporter and backup presenter for Nine News. His coverage of the Childers backpacker hostel fire in 2000 earned him a Queensland Media Award for Best News Coverage, and his reporting on the 2001 Warragamba bushfires led to a transfer to Nine's Sydney newsroom.

Stefanovic was appointed host of Today in February 2005, replacing Steve Liebmann. While hosting Today, he anchored Carols by Candlelight from 2008 to 2012, competed on Dancing on Ice in 2006, and hosted A Current Affair Sunday in 2011. He also fronted Nine's evening coverage of the 2012 London Olympics and served as a crew member aboard supermaxi yachts in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 2011 and 2013, winning line honours in 2011 aboard Investec LOYAL. At the 2011 Logie Awards, Stefanovic won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality and the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter.

In November 2014, Stefanovic revealed that he had worn the same suit on-air for a full year to expose double standards regarding the media critique of female presenters' attire. He temporarily departed Today in December 2018, later becoming a regular contributor on radio station 2GB before returning to co-host Today in January 2020. In January 2026, he launched an independent weekly podcast titled The Karl Stefanovic Show. Following an episode published in June 2026 featuring an interview with a British far-right activist, Nine Network negotiated terms for his departure, confirming on 26 June 2026 that he would leave the network immediately.

Stefanovic met journalist Cassandra Thorburn in 1995; they married and had three children before their divorce was finalized in October 2017. He married Jasmine Yarbrough in Mexico in December 2018, and they have one child together. His younger brother, Peter Stefanovic, is also a television news presenter.