Sunrise’s Natalie Barr declares war on Today show host Karl Stefanovic and admits there’s a fierce rivalry between the two: ‘We want to win’
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has declared war on Today host Karl Stefanovic.
The 55-year-old Channel Seven star revealed there was a real rivalry between the two in a new interview with Woman’s Day.
“We look at the ratings every day and yes, we want to win,” Barr said.
Channel Seven’s Sunrise consistently topped the ratings in the breakfast television wars against Nine’s Today.
“I was on the radio with Karl a few weeks ago,” she continued.
Sunrise host Natalie Barr has declared war on Today host Karl Stefanovic. The 55-year-old Channel Seven star revealed in a new interview that there was a real rivalry between the two
“We look at the ratings every day and yes, we want to win,” Barr said
“I’ve known him for a long time and we like each other, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to fight!” “We don’t want them to win.”
The television rivalry between the breakfast shows peaked back in May when Stefanovic and Barr appeared together live on radio.
Nova FM’s Ricki Lee, Tim and Joel Drive show invited the feuding hosts to engage in a friendly pun and tensions reached an all-time high.
Although Barr admitted the two got along well outside of work, she exchanged several comments with her “opposition,” including pretending to forget Stefanovic’s name.
“It’s not easy looking at each other and being such fierce competitors,” noted the Today presenter. “Look at the daggers.”
Tensions aside, the Channel Seven star admitted, “Actually, we don’t bother.”
Whereupon Stefanovic joked: “That’s not true.”
‘You hate me? “Okay, I hate you more,” Barr replied.
It all ended well, however, as Karl ended the playful argument by saying, ‘Well, you succeed and I don’t.’ So there.’
Sunrise was rocked last month when longtime presenter David “Kochie” Koch finally retired from the couch after 19 years.
Sunrise continued its reign as Australia’s leading breakfast show, attracting an impressive 235,000 Metro viewers when Shirvington co-hosted with Barr on day one. Ratings surpassed Nine’s Today show by 32% in market share, while Today reached 188,000 Metro viewers
But Koch’s replacement, Matt “Shirvo” Shirvington, seems to have wowed viewers.
Sunrise continued its reign as Australia’s leading breakfast show, attracting an impressive 235,000 Metro viewers when Shirvington co-hosted with Barr on day one.
Ratings surpassed Nine’s Today show by 32% in market share, while Today reached 188,000 Metro viewers.
May’s ratings showed that Sunrise had managed to beat Today in the Five City Metro market every week of the ratings year – although Today is more dominant on the East Coast.
According to OzTAM overnight numbers, Sunrise sits by an 18 percent lead with an average audience of 213,000 metropolitan viewers compared to Today’s 181,000 viewers.