celebrity

Celeb in 5: Saturday's best entertainment and gossip news.

1. The real reason Karl Stefanovic was sacked while he was on his honeymoon.


One might think it brutal to get sacked while you’re meant to be enjoying your honeymoon.

It’s something Karl Stefanovic is experiencing right now, having been axed from Nine’s Today Show while currently on his honeymoon in Aspen with wife Jasmine Yarbrough.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Nine executive Darren Wick has explained why the network decided to announce Stefanovic’s departure from the morning show this week.

“Up until very recently Karl was going to be part of Today in 2019 and we thought we could ride out the negative attention he was receiving,” Wick told the Sydney Morning Herald.

But following the negative press attention that surrounded Stefanovic and Yarbrough’s three-day Mexican wedding celebrations, Wick said there was “no point waiting another couple of weeks” to announce the network’s decision.

“There was no reason for us to wait any longer once we had made the decision. We spoke with Karl’s management, and I’ve got to say it has been pretty amicable.”

They say change is as good as a holiday… here’s hoping the same can be said for Stefanovic in 2019.

2. Um. It turns out Prince Harry is going to participate in this controversial royal Christmas tradition.

harry meghan new zealand
Image: Getty.
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Christmas time means many things to many different people.

For the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, it appears it includes hunting.

Despite reports the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle was against her husband joining the rest of the royal family on the annual Boxing Day pheasant shoot at Sandringham, Prince Harry will join the hunt this year.

"Like Harry, Meghan is very keen to promote wildlife charities and animal conservation. However, Harry believes shooting is a sustainable field sport and she won't stop him," a source told Daily Mail's royal correspondent Richard Eden.

Another source said the couple acquired a black labrador puppy earlier this year specifically to be a gun dog for such shoots.

No word on whether Meghan will join the pheasant hunt. Considering the 37-year-old is several months into her pregnancy, it's unlikely.

3. Oh. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal just played a hilarious Christmas prank on Ryan Reynolds.

Last night, Ryan Reynolds got stitched up.

It was a prank as old as time. He was told that a party he was attending, alongside Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, was "Christmas Sweater" themed except... it was not.

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The 42-year-old arrived at the party dressed up as a present, with a big gold bow on his jumper.

Posting the photo to Instagram, he wrote "These f*cking a**holes said it was a sweater party".

 

View this post on Instagram

 

These fucking assholes said it was a sweater party. ????

A post shared by Ryan Reynolds (@vancityreynolds) on

Oh, Ryan.

We're getting serious Elle Woods in Legally Blonde turning up to a party full of law students in a bunny suit vibes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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4. Sandra Bullock had a crush on Keanu Reeves in Speed and same.

sandra bullock
Image: Getty.

In 1994, we all had a crush on Keanu Reeves in Speed.

Even, it turns out, his co-star Sandra Bullock had a case of the butterflies.

Speaking to Ellen about her upcoming film Bird Box, the 54-year-old shared that she had trouble focusing on set.

"It was hard," she said.

"It was hard for me to really be serious. He’d look at me and I’d be like *explodes into swooning giggles*," she added.

Keanu Reaves Speed
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Since nothing ever came of the crush, Ellen suggested he might have been intimidated by the Miss Congeniality actress.

"There was something about me that I guess he didn’t like," she cheekily responded.

It turns out we are all just like Sandra Bullock.

5. After rumours of a feud, Georgie Gardner has finally commented on Karl Stefanovic's axing.

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Today Show co-host Georgie Gardner has commented on Karl Stefanovic’s axing from the Nine morning show for the first time since the news broke on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old journalist worked alongside Stefanovic hosting the show for over a year, and as the Today Show newsreader in various capacities from 2006 to 2014.

Gardner posted a photo of herself and Stefanovic on Instagram to address her colleague’s reported firing.

“A very tough week, a challenging year. Huge congratulations @karlstefanovic_ for a 14 yr tenure hosting one of TV’s most demanding gigs,” she wrote.

“You brought a new brand, straddling the serious stories along with endless laughs (see YouTube!) You taught me plenty, it was never boring. X.”

For more on Gardner and Stefanovic's working relationship, read our full story here.