There’s a certain level of public attention that comes with the Stefanovic surname.
So much so that Peter Stefanovic – Channel Nine journalist and younger brother of Today Show host Karl Stefanovic – says it’s something that affects him and wife Sylvia Jeffreys on a daily basis.
Speaking to news.com.au, the 36-year-old spoke about the “unrelenting” attention they receive from paparazzi, to the point where it nearly drove him and Sylvia to elope before their wedding in April 2017.
In the end, they stuck to their guns and got married at a private estate in NSW’s Kangaroo Valley.
“We are just journalists at the end of the day,” said Peter, adding that both him and Sylvia have always felt uncomfortable around paparazzi.
“We did think about [eloping] when we realised there might be potentially a drone involved. We thought maybe we should just do something beforehand quickly at home and then have the party afterwards.”
Now over a year on from their wedding, their relationship is still making headlines. Just this week Sylvia publicly called out New Idea which surmised they were “in relationship hell”.
“Today’s offering from the ‘Fabricated Stories Based on Unflattering Papparazzi Photos’ file. Why no byline @NewIdeamagazine? #itsanextensivefile,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
The attention has affected them in other ways too, and Peter said that even though it doesn’t compare to the barrage of coverage his 43-year-old brother gets, knowing that spying cameras might be present while they’re out is enough to deter them from living normal lives.
“Sylvia doesn’t like going to the beach anymore,” he said.
“You try to ignore it, you try and carry on but it’s still hard to get used to … so I have great sympathy for what Karl is going through with all of that, because it can be unrelenting.”
Peter acknowledged the fame surrounding his surname had an impact.
“There’s a certain appeal in our surname, the family name,” he said, saying it brought him, Karl and Sylvia closer together.
“Sylvia is in that family, so we have become a bit of a squad.”