When Karl Stefanovic first started dating Jasmine Yarbrough, all anyone could talk about was their massive age gap.
Karl, 45, met Jasmine, 36, on board a luxury boat on Sydney Harbour in December 2016, just five months after the father of three split with his wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn.
Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough with Karl’s daughter Ava at the 2020 Australian Open.
(Image: Getty)Cassandra Thorburn is 49, so she’s actually three years older than Karl and an experienced journalist who took a step back from her career to look after the couple’s three children – Jackson, 20, Ava, 15, and River, 13.
Before their high-profile split, the couple appeared to have a rock solid marriage.
“There’s no question that Cass is a crucial ingredient in Karl’s success,” friend and fellow Channel Nine host Ben Fordham once told Fairfax.
“I think she’s ambitious for him… because she wants the best for Karl and she knows how talented he is,” Fordham said.
Karl used to gush about how much of an impact Cass had had on his life.
When he won the most popular presented Logie in 2011, he shocked guests at the annual awards show in Melbourne with a risqué acceptance speech thanking his wife.
“She has been a great influence on my life and has also got the best arse I have ever seen,” he said.
Cassandra Throrburn and Karl Stefanovic at the 2011 Logies.
(Image: Getty)But Cass and Karl’s marriage fell apart in mid-2016 and only a few months later the country was shocked when photos of the Today host canoodling with a stunning blonde on board a yacht were splashed all over the newspapers.
Jasmine is one half of the luxury show brand Mara and Mine, along with Tamie Ingham, of Ingham’s Chicken. Their designs have been have been spotted on the feet of Margot Robbie, Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne.
While her Mara and Mine designs were popular overseas, the brand was yet to crack the Australian market.
But soon after she started dating Stefanovic, her fame skyrocketed.
Now Mara and Mine shoes are stocked in David Jones and the brand launched its flagship store on an exclusive luxury shopping strip in Sydney’s Paddington.
READ NEXT: Inside Karl and Jasmine’s love story
Jasmine Yarbrough and Karl Stefanovic on their wedding day.
(Image: Instagram)Karl clearly has no regrets about his second wife and the decade between them doesn’t seem to make an impact.
The Today Show host teared up during his lavish wedding ceremony at the One & Only Palmilla resort in Mexico and in true larrikin fashion, Karl’s first words to his new bride Jasmine were: “Holy sh- -! You’re hot!”
During Jasmine’s reading of her vows, Karl teared up and then admitted, “sh- -, I’m terrible with this stuff.”
WATCH BELOW: Jasmine Yarbrough appears in a Midori ad. Post continues after video…
The couple are now expecting their first child together, but Karl’s three children from his first marriage originally struggled with their new family dynamic.
Stefanovic opened up to the Herald Sun about the toll its taken on his three children explaining, “For me personally I would definitely have failures in a husband sense and hope that I can rectify my failures as a dad.”
“I hope I can try and rebuild whatever has happened in the past and try and make the most of what I can do with them in the future.”
Karl and daughter Ava.
(Image: Instagram @jasyarby)Karl had undergone a now-reversed vasectomy when he met Jasmine but the soon-to-be dad-of-four told the Daily Mail that having a child together was always a goal for the couple.
“We discussed it very early on in our relationship and I was very excited about the prospect of having a baby,” he explained.
“We do have a very loving relationship and to have a baby as an expression of that love is incredible. It’s never an easy thing and I think that kids are a miracle and we just can’t wait to meet this little girl. Just to shower her with all the love that we have.”
