Cassandra Thorburn reveals she lost friends after her divorce from Karl Stefanovic – but insists she is ‘no longer grieving their marriage’
Karl Stefanovic’s ex-wife, Cassandra Thorburn, has admitted she lost friends after separating from the Today show host four years ago.
The children’s author, 48, said on the Divorce Story podcast this week that the break-up in June 2016 had resulted in a ‘sudden change’ in her friendship group.
She explained: ‘You’re in a relationship that you’ve been in for a long time and you have all similar friends. So all of a sudden there is a change in the friendship group.’
Life after divorce: Karl Stefanovic’s ex-wife, Cassandra Thorburn, has admitted she lost friends after separating from the Today show host four years ago. Pictured on September 5, 2018
She came to rely on her ‘support network’ of close female friends, with whom she would discuss her feelings of abandonment.
‘The support network becomes even more important because they’re the ones you can talk to about that [the loss of friends],’ she said.
The former Channel Nine producer also credited her girlfriends with being there for her during her acrimonious divorce.
‘If I hadn’t had my really close girlfriends… I could’ve gone days where I wouldn’t have communicated with anyone and I don’t think that would have been healthy at all,’ she said.
Shifting dynamics: The children’s author, 48, said on her podcast this week that the break-up in June 2016 had resulted in a ‘sudden change’ in her friendship group. Pictured on May 1, 2011
In August 2018, Cassandra spoke to The Australian Women’s Weekly about the harsh reality of losing contact with her ex-husband’s family
‘Last year, I declared that Karl really was dead to me, a man I no longer know, but the children still have their father,’ she said.
‘The flip-side of that is I feel like we’re dead to his family and almost anyone from our old life. There has been practically no contact. I feel like we’ve been discarded and disposed of, replaced by a whole new line-up of starters.’
Tough experience: Cassandra came to rely on her ‘support network’ of close female friends, with whom she would discuss her feelings of abandonment. Pictured on April 3, 2019
Cassandra also revealed on this week’s Divorce Story podcast that she was no longer grieving her marriage to Karl.
When asked if she was still mourning the loss of their 21 years together, she laughed: ‘No… This is why I’m doing the podcast.’
She continued: ‘Yes, I felt going through the divorce, to me, took longer to grieve because it’s such a painful experience and there’s so much negativity… So for me grieving the process of going through that had been huge.
New love: Karl remarried shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough on December 8, 2018 in Los Cabos, Mexico, two years after meeting at a boat party in Sydney
Cassandra added: ‘My children will always have a father and they only have one father. They also only have one mum. For me that was what got me through my hard moments, knowing that no one can replace who we are to our children.’
Karl remarried shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough on December 8, 2018 in Los Cabos, Mexico, two years after meeting at a boat party in Sydney.
They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Harper May, on May 1.
She’s adorable! They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Harper May, on May 1