Jackie O defends Lisa Wilkinson after politician's scathing claims: ‘Nasty’

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson has jumped to Lisa Wilkinson’s defence after politician Mark Latham blasted her during a parliamentary address on Wednesday, where he claimed that she’s “always been about the money”.

The NSW One Nation leader took aim at Lisa’s recent gender pay gap claims, which have made headlines across the country following the release of her tell-all memoir, It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, and alleged that she was “reinventing herself as a victim of the gender pay gap at Channel Nine”.

“Recently one of Wilkinson’s old classmates contacted me to say, ‘That’s Lisa, it’s always been about the money’,” Mr Latham said, according to news.com.au.

“‘We went to Campbelltown High together and she couldn't get out of here fast enough. She’s always been as tight as all get out, it’s always about the money and the victimhood’.”

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According to The Daily Mail, Latham also alleged that Lisa’s former classmate told him that she used to sell freebies she got working in magazines at the local markets.

The 60-year-old, who was born and educated in Sydney’s west, spoke about the TV star under parliamentary privilege during the Private Members’ Statements part of the day, which is where MPs can discuss “matters that concern their electorates or are of local significance”.

Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O show on Thursday, Jackie O defended Lisa over Mr Latham’s explosive claims about her past.

“Big deal! Can I just say something? [Latham] doesn't know for sure that she was editor at this point,” she began.

“Lisa could have been just starting out, and when you're working in the magazine world, you're not getting paid a lot of money - especially when you first start. She could have been getting paid $10,000 a year, like I was when I first started.

“And the fact that she's getting freebies and selling them at the market - who cares? Good on her!”

The Masked Singer judge also responded to Lisa’s former classmate who said that she “couldn’t get out of Campbelltown fast enough”.

“That’s nasty. You don't know. It’s just gossiping,” she said.

Both Jackie O and Mark Latham’s comments come after Lisa claimed in her new book that she and her Today co-host, Karl Stefanovic, had planned on teaming up to renegotiate their salaries with Nine together.

‘Weeks later’, according to Lisa, Karl successfully played Nine against rival network Seven and managed to sign his own five-year deal on Today worth at least $2 million per year.

Meanwhile, Lisa is said to have been offered about $780,000 a year for two years.

“There was no doubt about it: Karl certainly knew the art of the deal,” Lisa remarked in her memoir.

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