There has been much speculation that Today veteran Karl Stefanovic earns double what his on-screen partner does.
But Women of the Future judge Lisa Wilkinson, 57, denies has revealed they don’t even discuss their earnings with each other.
Sitting down with Charlie Pickering on his show, The Weekly With Charlie Pickering, the former Project star decided he wanted to address the elephant in the room.
“I want to talk about an issue I’m sure is close to your heart – I’d like to talk to you about the gender pay gap on your show,” he queried.
“Because it’s been widely reported that Karl is paid significantly more than you to host The Today Show. Why do you think that is?”
Ever the diplomat, Lisa quickly retorted, “And you believe everything you read?”
Things got very tense on the comedy talk show…
Charlie, without missing a beat, remarked, “Well, maybe I believe everything Karl’s publicist puts out.”
The mum-of-three admitted, “I have no idea what Karl’s on, just as he has no idea what I’m on.”
Confused, the host questioned, “Oh, this is fascinating now! You never thought of having a Friends-style pact that you both get paid the same?”
Taking a moment, Lisa simply said no.
Clearly not ready to let the topic go, Charlie quipped, “Right. I suspect that’s bulls***.”
Putting an end to the discussion Lisa told the ABC personality, “I can put my hand on my heart and say I have no idea what Karl is paid, and he has no idea what I’m paid.”
Before adding, “Besides, I do it out of love, anyway.”
In 2015, News Corp claimed Lisa’s male counterpart was “set to take home more than twice what [Lisa Wilkinson] would earn. It is understood he would take home $2 million a year for three years — effectively almost doubling his salary.”
Radio stars Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson are also taking a leaf out of Karl and Lisa’s book.
On Thursday the pair were talking about workplace salaries, with Jackie revealing, “I don’t know what Kyle gets paid and he doesn’t know [my income] because we do our deals separately.”
Adding, “At the end of the day, if you’re getting paid more or I’m getting paid more – good luck to ya!”
Kyle quickly interrupted, saying, “I just wait ’til Jackie does her deal and say I want double!”
Clearly joking, the shock jock’s comment was met with laughter.
The radio duo have made it their personal crusade to work towards gender pay equality.
In 2015, they launched a campaign to help raise awareness about the struggle for equal pay.
“The male salary is on average 20% higher than that of women. To help balance the scales and raise awareness for equal pay, Kyle and Jackie O are on the lookout for businesses to jump on board and offer the ladies 20% off their product.”
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