Jessica Rowe has opened up about her traumatic exit from Channel Nine in 2007 and how news leaked of her sacking on the eve of the Logie Awards.
The 54-year-old veteran journalist was not invited to the red carpet that year, and she woke to find a media scrum on her doorstep.
'This was way before Instagram and TikTok and all of that. It was all over the newspapers that I was going to be leaving the Today Show,' she recalled on Monday's episode of the Jess Rowe Big Talk Show.
'And at the time, I was really shocked because it wasn't meant to be released until a few days later. So I wasn't prepared.'
Adding to Jess' woes was that her husband, Channel Nine star Peter Overton, ended up being confronted with questions on the Logie Awards red carpet about his wife's sacking.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Jess explained how she attempted to escape media scrutiny the morning after the awards.
At the time Jess and Peter had just welcomed their daughter Allegra.
'I remember that morning I could hear outside our front gate, all of these sort of cameramen and all these sort of footsteps,' she continued.
Jessica Rowe has opened up about her traumatic exit from Channel Nine in 2007 when news leaked of her sacking on the eve of the Logie Awards. Pictured: Jessica Rowe in 2024
'And I was thinking,''my goodness''...and I plastered this big smile on my face, whereas on the inside I was just thinking, my goodness, my world has sort of crumbled.'
'I was then trying to get Allegra into the car...but there I was attempting to do that when I had all of these cameras on me and all these people asking me questions.'
'All I could do was smile, even though on the inside I just felt like my world had fallen apart. And then I remember I finally got Allegra in [the car] and then I got into the front.'
'And as I drove around the corner, away from the cameras, I remember just bursting into tears and having these tears streaming down my face thinking, ''my goodness, what is going to become of me?'' Of course, at that time, it was all new for me. I was someone who had defined herself through her career.'
Jess also recalled how only a year earlier she had hosted the red carpet.
The 54-year-old veteran journalist was not invited to the red carpet that year, and she woke to find a media scrum on her doorstep. Pictured: Jess (R) and Karl Stefanovic (L) on Today. Jessica left the show in 2007 following her return from maternity leave
In 2006, Jessica was thrust into the spotlight when she moved from Channel 10 to the Nine Network to replace Tracy Grimshaw as co-host of the Today show.
But scandal struck when Nine's chief executive Eddie McGuire allegedly asked when he could 'bone' Jessica, with reports suggesting at the time he meant to 'sack' her.
He reportedly made the comments during a conversation with his then deputy Jeffrey Browne and Nine's head of news and current affairs, Mark Llewellyn.
'What are we going to do about Jessica? When should we bone her? I reckon it should be next week,' McGuire had reportedly asked.
The veteran journalist said it was 'all over the newspapers' that she out of the Today show the morning after the 2007 Logies
Llewellyn then allegedly told McGuire the network might risk also losing Jessica's husband, Nine News reporter Peter Overton, if they sacked her.
McGuire is said to have replied, 'Maybe we have to take that risk,' before Browne added: 'She's a laughing stock and if we keep her on air we'll be the laughing stock.'
McGuire has since denied using the term 'bone' in the conversation, which was laid out by Llewellyn's sworn affidavit (made public after he left the network for rival station Seven).
Jessica left the Today show in 2007 following her return from maternity leave. At the time, she cited payment issues as the reason for her departure.
Adding to Jess' woes was that her husband, Channel Nine star Peter Overton, ended up being confronted with questions on the Logie Awards red carpet about his wife's sacking
She then joined Channel Seven as a presenter for Seven News in Sydney, before taking part in Dancing with the Stars.
Jessica moved to Weekend Sunrise in late 2010 and stayed there for three years.
In 2013, she signed with Network Ten and hosted morning show Studio 10 alongside Ita Buttrose, Joe Hildebrand, Sarah Harris and Denise Drysdale.
In March 2018, she announced she was resigning from the program to spend more time with her family.
Jess and her husband, Channel Nine news anchor Peter Overton, have been married since 2004 and share daughters Allegra, 17, and Giselle, 15.
Jess moved on to Channel Seven in 2010 after her untimely exit from Nine
In 2023, Jessica told Stellar's podcast Something to Talk About, she did not regret her time on Nine's breakfast show.
'I look back on that time and I can feel my stomach churning … it's so visceral. It was the pits. But at the same time I don't regret it,' she said.
'And because I'm a huge believer in grabbing opportunities, we only have one shot at life. And when amazing things come your way, you've got to give it a crack. So I was determined to give it my best shot.'
