Sylvia Jeffreys dumped from Today show over the phone

It was the bombshell news that dominated headlines just before Christmas, and while viewers of the Today show may have been left shocked when Sylvia Jeffreys was dumped from her newsreader role, it seems they weren’t alone.

Speaking on KIIS FM’s Kyle & Jackie O show this morning, the 33-year-old said she received the news that she wouldn’t be required back in the office, over the phone.

“We didn't see it coming, not to that extent, I think something had to give, there’s no doubt about that, and it did,” Sylvia said.

“It was a series of phone calls over a few different days just after we got back from Mexico.”

Sylvia was in Mexico to celebrate the wedding of her brother-in-law, Karl Stefanovic, to Jasmine Yarbrough.

She went on to say that she was with her husband, Peter Stefanovic, and her family in Queensland when she got the fateful calls, and it was a ‘really nice place to be at that time’.

Mass exodus at Nine

In December, Peter was the first of the clan to announce that he was departing Weekend Today and Nine after spending 15 years with the channel.

Just hours later, his brother and host of Today, Karl Stefanovic, confirmed he would be following him out the door.

The 44-year-old had been with the show for 14 years, but had been weathering media criticism since leaving his wife of more than 20 years.

Karl and Peter had also been in the spotlight since that Ubergate scandal earlier last year.

New Idea reported a conversation that occurred between Karl and Peter in a cab, where Karl was busted blasting his new co-host Georgie Gardner.

Crisis talks were held over the future of the former Today host following the abrupt exit of his younger brother, The Daily Telegraph revealed.

Then, just days later, Sylvia Jeffreys confirmed she was also leaving the breakfast program to take on a ‘brand new project’ in 2019.

In a statement, the newsreader revealed she would not be returning to the show but would continue on with the network. She’s since described herself as being ‘collateral’ in the drama.

Sylvia’s new gig

Sylvia has recently signed a four-year contract with A Current Affair and is loving sleeping in until 5:30 in the morning, rather than her former wakeup call around 3:00AM.

Despite feeling right at home in her new gig, Sylvia told the Kyle & Jackie O show that she does miss her old family at Today.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said of her stint on breakfast TV, “It makes sense I guess, I get along with Karl, given I married his brother. There’s a certain connection between me and Stefanovics.”

She also said she believes it was the right time for them to have departed the show, and that everyone is ‘in a much better place today than they were six months ago’.

Will Karl come back to Today?

When asked if she thinks the Today bosses would ever try to entice Karl back as host of the show, Sylvia said ‘it’s way over her pay-scale’ to make those kinds of decisions, but Karl deserves a break after 14 years of early starts and he’s extremely loved-up with his wife, Jasmine Yarbrough.

Last week, Sylvia described herself as collateral in the Stefanovics’ drama.

“I didn’t see change on that scale coming,” she told Stellar magazine. “It was a difficult few days as everything was being sorted out, but I certainly didn’t expect it.”

“I don't know on what basis those decisions were made, but whatever way you look at it, I was collateral.”

At the end of last month, Peter Stefanovic revealed that he will be co-anchoring Sky News’ breakfast show, First Edition, with Laura Jaynes.

He said the last year has been ‘tough’ but he’s ready to take on the new challenge ahead.

“It did have its challenges, particularly because I’m inherently quite a shy person so, when there’s stuff going on out there, it’s embarrassing and I felt responsible and ashamed for a lot of what happened,” he told News Corp.

“Not just because of the damage I might have caused to my employer, but also to my family as well.”

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