During a live cross to Canberra for a federal election update from Channel 9 political editor Chris Uhlmann, the pair were discussing Anthony Albanese’s embarrassing speech gaffe from day one of the campaign when the cheeky Today show host fired the first shot.But he was no match for Uhlmann’s savage repartee.Explaining that the leader of the Labor Party “can’t dwell on” failing to remember the unemployment rate or the RBA cash rate in a trainwreck press conference yesterday, Uhlmann said: “Because then the next performance is affected by that, you have to get it out of your head.”“What do you mean, when I went to sleep interviewing you yesterday?” Stefanovic quipped back with a laugh.“Yeah, that was bad, I think that’s going to resonate through your career, but when I think of some of the things you’ve done in your career, mate, I’m surprised you’re standing there,” Uhlmann responded.Taking it in his stride, Stefanovic chuckled self-deprecatingly as he agreed: “Same, same, same! Don’t worry about that, you’re not the only one!”But it didn’t stop there.“It’s a mystery to us all!” Uhlmann continued. “When I said the other day, this is like a biblical test. We are in the middle of Lent, it runs 40 days. That’s one of the numbers in the bible that recurs more than 100 times, 40 days spent in the desert.“This is a trial that’s going on right now, but there is the possibility of both crucifixion and then redemption at the end.”Slipping in one final dig at Stefanovic’s prodigal-son like return to Today in 2020, he added: “We all know at the end of this 40 days who gets redeemed. Like you.”“Second comings and all that. We like that, don’t we?” the host asked as Uhlmann signed off.“It’s always better the second time around, Karl! See you, mate.”Stefanovic — appearing slightly rattled by the surprisingly pithy interaction — uttered: “That’s it for him … for another day.”Uhlmann appeared to be taking a veiled swipe at the TV star’s memorable return to the Today show after being dumped in 2018 following 15 years as a host.Amid intense public scrutiny surrounding his divorce from Cassandra Thorburn and marriage to Jasmine Yarbrough, coupled with a ratings nosedive, and of course, his infamous ‘Ubergate’ scandal in which he was recorded complaining about his co-host Georgie Gardner, Stefanovic was dropped by Today bosses.A little over year later, as ratings plummeted further under replacements Gardner and Deborah Knight, he returned to his position alongside co-anchor Allison Langdon in a stunning 360 by the network.
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