Nine finally axes Rowe

Nine finally axes Rowe

May 06, 2007 12:15am
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)

CHANNEL Nine sensationally axed Jessica Rowe last night.
Nine finally ended its tortured relationship with the high-profile star with a terse three-sentence statement.

Nine announced that Rowe, currently on maternity leave, "would not be returning to the Network and that Nine and Jessica had reached an agreement that would allow Jessica to take up other opportunities for her career".

Nine is believed to have paid dearly to break Rowe's reputed $500,000 annual contract.

Speculation about her replacement as full-time host of Today centres on Seven's Weekend Sunrise co-host Lisa Wilkinson and Rowe's current Today fill-in Kellie Connolly.

Wilkinson's manager John Fordham confirmed yesterday his client had been in discussions with Nine.

Rowe was on air at Nine for less than a year and has not appeared since December, when she took four months' maternity leave for her first child, Allegra, born in January.

Nine bosses did not want her to return to Today, but could not reach agreement with her on another role.

The former Channel Ten newsreader's disastrous tenure at Nine began in January 2006, when she was lured over by a reported $500,000 salary to co-host Today.

Her first appearances for Nine were in the Supreme Court, as Ten fought to make her serve out six months' notice. Rowe also fought with Ten for the rights to her costly wardrobe.

Rowe and Nine won their battles with Ten, which was forced to pay Rowe's legal costs.

But Today viewers weren't won over by her bubbly style or her stilted banter with co-host Karl Stefanovic, and ratings went into free-fall.