One month ago, Lisa Wilkinson announced she was leaving the job she had held for 10 years – as a co-host of Channel Nine’s Today Show – for a shiny new gig as part of The Project panel on rival network Ten.
Earlier this week, US media giant CBS were approved to go ahead with a $41 million takeover of the network.
Then, 57-year-old Lisa mysteriously boarded a plane, and began posting messages from Los Angeles.
Which would have been perfectly normal – after all, Lisa deserves a little rest and relaxation after a whirlwind month where her pay ‘demands’ were aired for the whole country to see – if it wasn’t for the fact that Lisa’s Instagram captions were… rather mysterious.
“Sometimes life takes you places you weren’t expecting…but you’re so glad it did,” she wrote, alongside a picture of an iconic Californian sunset.
“Watch this space…” she added.
The messages were deemed “cryptic” by fans and the media. People speculated that Lisa was making a permanent move to the US, after The Daily Telegraph claimed Ten was going to transform the TV legend into “Australia’s Oprah”.
LISTEN: In the wake of Lisa and Karl’s pay ‘drama’, Mamamia Out Loud asks if we should all know what our peers are earning. Post continues after audio.
But it turns out we aren’t losing Lisa to the States anytime soon, after she revealed she was in Los Angeles to host a huge gala fundraiser for The Fred Hollows Foundation, which works to end avoidable blindness around the world.
Lisa will MC the event, which has a star-studded guest list including Australian actor Joel Edgerton – who is a global ambassador for the foundation – Leonardo di Caprio, Robert Pattinson, Kate Beckinsdale, Al Pacino and Chris Pine.
The gala is Lisa’s first professional appearance since she shared news of her career switch.
She’s expected to land back in Sydney after her hosting duties are complete.
But just quietly… Lisa would make a smashing ‘Aussie Oprah’. Just sayin’.
Top Comments
It's a good cause.
Lisa, stay there.