Karl Stefanovic made waves back in 2016 after splitting with his wife of 21 years and mother of his three children (Jackson, daughter Ava, and River) and almost immediately starting a relationship with Jasmine Yarborough, ten years his junior.
But the naysayers, who predicted it wouldn’t last, have been proved incorrect and in December 2023 Karl and Jasmine celebrated five years of marriage and eight years together.
How did Karl and Jasmine get together?
As Karl’s very public divorce from long-time partner Cassandra Thorburn, was being finalised he went out on a friend’s boat for an afternoon in the Sydney sun.
It was here that he met then 31-year old Aussie shoe designer Jasmine Yarborough. The Aussie had spent the last seven years in Los Angeles and New York working on her shoe brand, Mara and Mine, and was back in Sydney for the first time in years to spend Christmas with her family.
“When we first met, I thought he was going to be such a good friend, because we just laughed all the time. He had me in fits of laughter all day!” Jasmine told Vogue Brides of the veteran Today show presenter.
But more than just friendship was on the cards, something which surprised the couple as much as the watching public.
“We are taking things really, really slowly. I certainly did not expect to meet someone five months after I broke up with my wife. That was not planned,” Karl told Stellar magazine in 2017.
When did Karl and Jasmine get married?
Karl proposed to Jasmine with a $100,000 engagement ring after just a year together and, in what was dubbed the showbiz wedding of the year, the pair were married on December 8, 2018 at the lavish One&Only Palmilla resort in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.
200 friends and family attended including including Richard Wilkins, and his son Christian, Grant Kenny, Mick Doohan, Julie Bishop, Shane Warne and Karl’s sister-in-law Sylvia Jeffreys.
It was understood his three children did not attend the ceremony but Jackson and Ava did go to the reception.
Did Karl and Jasmine have a baby?
Initially this looked unlikely as Karl, now 50, admitted he’d had a vasectomy but, after having it reversed he hinted he and Jasmine were hoping for good news.
“Well, if the gods of fertility shall shine their light on us at some point, it would be fine,” he told TV Week.
Following months of swirling rumours Karl eventually confirmed Jasmine was pregnant and in May 2020 she gave birth to his forth child, Harper May.
After several tumultuous years the family started settling into everyday life, away from the glare of the paparazzi, as much as possible.
Did Karl Stefanovic leave his wife?
Cassandra Thorburn was married to Karl for over two decades and is the mother of his three children (Jackson, now 24, Ava, 19 and River, 17) and her reaction to his speedy relationship with a much younger woman is as you might expect.
The then 44-year old made it clear she was not on Karl’s side.
“We are divorced, but like many broken families it is extremely stressful for everyone concerned,” she told The Australian Women’s Weekly in 2018.
In 2023 Karl’s eldest daughter, Ava, who now goes by her middle name Willow, revealed her parents “haven’t been in the same room together for years” following their marriage breakdown.
“It’s their business if they choose not to be friendly – of course I wish it wasn’t like this, but I won’t be forcing them. I hope one day we can all be together again,” she told Woman’s Day.
The kids have now accepted the split and Willow described Jasmine as like a second mum to her.
“(Jasmine) has become more like a friend to me …(although is) much stricter than dad,” she said.
Are Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic still together?
On their five year wedding anniversary in December 2023 Karl posted a photo of himself and Jasmine and said she has “made him a better man”.
“Five years of laughter and love. Your strength, resilience, clarity, and unwavering pursuit of what is right continues to give me strength,” he wrote.
The pair returned from a stint at the Paris Olympics in 2024 where Karl was fronting the Channel 9 coverage of the games.
Photos of the beaming pair with the Eiffel Tower in the background show things in the Stefanovic household are still gold medal-worthy.
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