Brooke Boney steps down as co-host of the Today show when new host Sarah Abo is nowhere to be seen…after being promoted to newsreader
Early viewers of the Today show woke up to a different lineup on Friday.
Newly promoted newsreader Brooke Boney stepped into headquarters from 5:30 am to anchor the program together with Karl Stefanovic.
She filled in for rookie host Sarah Abo, who missed the first 45 minutes of the broadcast due to another work commitment.
Abo’s disappearing act was explained by Stefanovic at the beginning of the show.
He said his co-host, a footy tragic, was “preparing for a big interview” in connection with the start of the AFL season.
Early viewers of the Today show woke up Friday to a different lineup, with newly promoted newscaster Brooke Boney (right) stepping into headquarters from 5:30 a.m. to co-anchor the program with Karl Stefanovic (left).
She filled in for rookie presenter Sarah Abo (right), who missed the first 45 minutes of the broadcast as she was ‘preparing for a big interview’ related to the start of the AFL season
Abo was back at the station at 6:20 a.m. but wouldn’t give details about the “top secret” interview she did.
It comes after there was a shake-up on Nine’s breakfast program last month when entertainment presenter Boney took over the role of newsreader from Alex Cullen as he stepped back to focus solely on sports.
While the network issued a statement supporting Cullen as a key player in the show’s lineup, New idea reported Monday that the shifting roles had created “tension” between Cullen and Boney.
“You can cut the sky with a knife,” a source told the magazine.
Alex came back from Australian Open tennis coverage and Brooke was in his chair. [He] hit it on the chin, but it’s made everyone feel tense.”
There was a stir on Today last month when entertainment presenter Boney (pictured) took over the role of newscaster from Alex Cullen as he stepped back to focus solely on sports
While the network released a statement backing Cullen (pictured) as a key player in the Today lineup, New Idea reports that the shifting roles have created “tension” between Cullen and Boney
Two weeks ago, a column in The Sunday Telegraph about Cullen being “taken out of his news role and replaced by Boney” prompted the network to clarify that he was still part of the Today show line-up, but ” totally focused on sports’.
Annette Sharp’s piece described the shake-up as a “demotion” for Cullen, who will now only present sports segments after being relieved of his news bureau duties.
Sharp also suggested that Jim Wilson, who recently left Nine, would be a better fit than Cullen for the sportscaster role on Today.
Hours later, he responded to the article, citing Steve Burling, Nine’s morning television director WWOS as stated: ‘The importance of sports in Nine has led to a shift in focus on our line-up for Today, with Brooke Boney now taking on news and entertainment and Alex Cullen focusing entirely on sports.
“Alex has a passion for all things sports, so it’s a comfortable fit.”
For the past few weeks, Boney has been in the news chair while also juggling her usual entertainment segments.
Boney joined the program in 2019 as an entertainment reporter after working as a weekday morning news presenter on Triple J
Meanwhile, Cullen has taken a backseat to focus on his starring role as Today’s sports presenter. He also hosts Nine’s news bulletin at 5am.
Cullen joined Today for the relaunch three years ago. He was initially just the sportsman but took over when Tracy Vo quit the show and returned to 9News Perth.
Boney joined the program in 2019 as an entertainment reporter after working as a weekday morning news host on Triple J.
Nine updated her journalist online bio last month to include her news duties in her title, which is now “Today news and entertainment reporter.”
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