Georgie Gardner is set to have her final sign-off from 9News Sydney on Friday night, but her exit from the station appeared to be far from smooth.
The newsreader, 55, who has been with Nine for 24 years, appeared on the Today breakfast show on Thursday morning to bid farewell to colleagues and viewers.
However, her appearance on the program proved to be quite awkward as Karl Stefanovic seemed eager to make a final joke at her expense on air.
As Gardner had her final send-off from colleagues, the network aired a reel of clips showing the breadth of news coverage the presenter has under her belt.
The throwback footage summed up her time as a newsreader and host with Nine, alongside clips of Stefanovic, 51, making crude innuendos and jokes about Gardner.
One old video saw him holding a hot cross bun and saying: ‘I just had a bite of Georgie’s bun, and let me tell you…’
Georgie Gardner is set to have her final sign-off from 9News Sydney on Friday night , but her exit from the station appeared to be far from smooth
Laughter could be heard from the crew off-camera as Gardner was seen rolling her eyes and smiling in the throwback clip.
‘I would suggest you don’t have a crack at my buns because they are very good buns and I won’t hear anything to the contrary,’ Gardner hit back.
Stefanovic also made a gag right at the end of Gardner’s farewell segment as she thanked Today viewers for all the support they had given her during her exit.
‘Thank you to our viewers. I’ve received some really unbelievably kind messages. I’m so grateful,’ she said in a heartfelt call-out.
‘Alright, well, we’ll all be tuning in tomorrow night because the end of the show is going to be something to behold. You’re a fabulous crier,’ Stefanovic said.
As the TV anchor fell into a fit of laughter over his own joke, Stefanovic added: ‘I am. Almost as good as you.’
It has also been reported that Nine will be saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by dropping Gardner from the network.
Her departure is believed to be saving Nine $600,000 a year amid the network’s cost-cutting efforts, according to News.com.au.
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Gardner appeared on Today on Thursday morning for a farewell with her colleagues, but Karl Stefanovic, 51, appeared intent on making a final joke at Gardner’s expense
The Daily Mail has reached out to Nine for comment.
Gardner announced her departure in March, thanking Nine for her long and varied career, and expressing her gratitude to colleagues and viewers.
‘Some exciting news… after 34 years of broadcast journalism, I’ve decided to call it a day. Just shy of 24 years at Nine, my resignation has been accepted – which conjures up a fair bit of trepidation and exhilaration in equal measure,’ she wrote.
‘And then there are the countless colleagues who’ve enriched my journey, along with all those I’ve interviewed. They are the reason why the decision to resign has not been made lightly.’
Gardner added that she was optimistic about starting the next phase of her career.
‘So, time now to embark on a new chapter and not yet sure what that looks like, but I’m open to new opportunities and I’m excited,’ she continued.
‘So much still to learn and discover in the world, and at age 55, so much still to contribute.’
Rounding out the post, Gardner wrote: ‘So to them [staff] and our viewers, I am immensely grateful. It’s been awesome, and it’s time.’
The throwback footage summed up her time as a newsreader and host with Nine, alongside clips of Stefanovic making sexual innuendos and jokes about Gardner. Pictured with former host Lisa Wilkinson
Fiona Dear, Nine’s head of news and current affairs, said the Nine News Sydney presenter was a respected member of the Nine family.
‘Her versatility as a journalist allowed her to take on reporting, hosting and presenting roles across the network,’ Dear said in an email.
‘But it was her nine years on the Today Show as newsreader and host that firmly established Georgie as a household name.’
Gardner added in her statement that being a part of the Nine family had been a ‘privilege’.
‘Anchoring news bulletins across the day, as well as reporting and hosting roles on virtually every news program at the network, has been incredibly satisfying and an enormous privilege,’ she said.
‘I will be forever thankful for having worked with countless colleagues, who are quite simply the best in the industry, and I am humbled by the knowledge that there are viewers who have followed my career.’
Gardner joined Channel Nine in 2002.
In 2006, she replaced Leila McKinnon on National Nine News Morning Edition and would go on to work on Today for eight years.
She left her role at Today in 2014 to spend more time with her family, before later returning to replace Lisa Wilkinson as co-host alongside Stefanovic.
She later co-hosted the show with Deborah Knight in 2019 before Stefanovic returned in 2020 with co-host Allison Langdon.
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