Channel Nine is set to be rocked by another Uber-gate scandal – just weeks after New Idea lifted the lid on the explosive back-seat rant by Karl Stefanovic, where he slammed his Today co-stars and network bosses.
Now, sources reveal another driver from the ride-sharing service is desperately trying to sell his story, revealing how Today’s sports host Tim Gilbert also let loose during a conversation with the driver – while he was a passenger – and this time he took aim at former host Lisa Wilkinson.
The driver is claiming Tim called Lisa ‘up herself ’ and voiced his deep dislike for her and husband Peter FitzSimons – saying that ‘everyone was ‘happy’ when she jumped ship to Network Ten.
The damning conversation reportedly happened around the time Lisa, 58, walked out on Nine last October when they refused to pay her the same salary as her male co-host Karl Stefanovic, 43, with Tim also apparently revealing sensitive information about Lisa during the trip.
It’s the first time any report of animosity between Tim and former Today host Lisa has surfaced.
Now, if these wild claims that Tim believes Lisa is ‘up herself ’ and he can’t stand her hubby are to be believed, it would make a mockery of his farewell to Lisa after her shock exit.
‘I didn’t work with Lisa anywhere near as long as you guys, but as a fellow Sound Of Music fan, Lisa, I have to say it, Maria Von Trapp ‘when a door closes, a window opens’,” Tim told viewers on October 17, 2017.
‘It sounds like that’s happened for you, so I wish you all the very best to you, Fitz and the family for the future.’
Well-placed showbiz insiders tell New Idea this latest scandal is the last thing Channel Nine and Today need after weeks of controversy after Karl’s Uber conversation surfaced.
Only last week The Daily Telegraph revealed that 60 Minutes boss Kirsty Thomson ‘doesn’t want [Karl] to be part of the show’, after the Today host said that Nine’s flagship program had ‘lost relevance’ and mocked its later time slot.
And now with Nine preparing for another Uber-gate controversy, it looks like the dramas won’t die down soon.
‘The bosses would’ve been happy when the Australian cricket team’s ball-tampering scandal hit the news because it knocked Karl off the headlines,’ says the source. ‘But now with Tim’s scandal set to come out it’s all going to come up again.
‘When Lisa left, all the Today stars gave big public farewells, voicing their adoration for her.
But if Tim didn’t mean it, did the rest of them? That’s the question Australia will now be asking…just how hated was Lisa at Today?’
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea – out now!
