Lisa Wilkinson reportedly left the 10th anniversary of The Project early, after her co-host Peter Helliar made a throwaway comment that left her reeling.
The Australian reported that the comedian “unwittingly” singled out Lisa as an “outsider” amongst his fellow co-hosts, Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly, when he said, “We love having you on our show.”
WATCH: Lisa Wilkinson tells her former co-host Karl Stefanovic to go f*** himself
The publication said the 59-year-old “shuffled offset” just half an hour into the 90-minute broadcast.
“Diary hears she was not sighted again, either during the 90-minute-plus extravaganza or the after-party,” said the report.
On the other hand, Peter, Carrie and Waleed— who have been working alongside each other on The Project since 2015— reportedly stayed for the after-party and gave heart-felt toasts to each other.
“You are the show!” Peter gushed about Carrie, who has been a panellist on The Project since it’s inception in 2009.
“You are the soul of this show and it is an honour to work alongside you,” the Aussie comedian said.
The father of three was recently slammed for his awkward Logies monologue, where he gave a five-minute speech dressed as a life-size Gold Logie and criticised every Gold Logie nominee, except Amanda Keller, who stood beside him looking uncomfortable.
The 44-year-old’s cringe-worthy act came just weeks after he was escorted off The Project set.
Despite his barb, Lisa took to Instagram to honour her co-panellists a couple of days after the celebrations.
“Here’s cheers to an amazing decade…and an extraordinary bunch of colleagues – both on and off-air – who are everything I imagined them to be,” Lisa wrote in the caption.
The mother-of-three also posted a behind-the-scenes photo from the 10th birthday celebration episode, writing, “Ten years of @theprojecttv And I’ve never felt more at home than with these amazing humans.”
The former Today show host joined The Project last year, after leaving the popular Channel 9 breakfast show over a pay dispute.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the Nine Network pay offer was up to $200,000 short of her co-hosts salary.
At the time of Lisa’s departure, fellow Nine host Sylvia Jeffreys made a heartfelt statement about Wilkinson’s impact on women around the country.
“Seeing is believing for young girls and what they see in Lisa is a strong, influential, fun and compassionate woman at the very top of her game. That’s a powerful thing,” she said on the Today show.
In an exclusive interview with WHO, Lisa said changing TV roles was completely invigorating, stating, “It’s wonderful to be able to get out on the road and do longer-form journalism … And everyone has been so ridiculously welcoming that I’m just so thrilled I made the change.”
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