Today's Karl Stefanovic forced to apologise for F-bomb live on-air

Karl Stefanovic has been forced to apologise after dropping an ‘F-bomb’ during a discussion about the State of Origin.

The Today host was interviewing NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler on Wednesday morning when he made the faux pas on live TV.

“As I always say, you’re a great bloke. You could be a Queenslander,” Karl told the coach.

The 48-year-old then uttered a sentence in Italian, before adding: “If I can say that, I think it’s Italian for ‘F-off’.”

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Karl quickly apologised for the coarse language on the show’s early morning broadcast.

“For our Italian friends out there, I didn’t know what it meant. That’s why I said it,” he explained. “Apologies if you were offended.”

His co-host Sarah Abo also doubled down on his apology shortly after they encouraged viewers to enter an online competition and “leave Italian swear words out of it”.

“Yes, Karl would like to apologise to our Italian viewers out there because we all still love you,” she said, adding ‘prego’ which means ‘please’ in Italian.

Karl's 'unbelievable' text to Kochie

The on-air incident comes shortly after Karl’s breakfast TV rival David ‘Kochie’ Koch announced that he will be leaving Channel Seven's Sunrise after 21 years.

The 67-year-old spoke about the response to his big announcement during Tuesday morning’s broadcast and revealed he had received a message from Karl that touched him.

“Thank you to everyone who’s been so lovely, unbelievable messages,” he said. “A wonderful, classy, respectful one from Karl Stefanovic was so nice. Really adored that one.”

In a statement from Channel Seven, Kochie explained that he believes it’s time to shake up his routine after spending over two decades waking up in the early morning.

“I know I'm going to miss it enormously, but it's time for me to work business hours, and for (his wife) Libby and I to have a bit more flexibility to enjoy our burgeoning family, to travel and focus on our family business interests in Pinstripe Media and the Ausbiz business channel,” he shared.

“As everyone knows, I'm a finance nerd so you'll still see me pop up every so often on RBA board meeting days or covering other big financial news, but as a guest rather than host.

“Coming up to 20 consecutive years as Australia's most-watched breakfast show is a nice moment to exit stage left with an enormous sense of pride and gratitude. Thank you for the privilege.”

Kochie will officially step away from the Sunrise desk next Friday, with his replacement yet to be announced.

With NCA Newswire

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