After 21 years of marriage, Karl Stefanovic and wife Cassandra Thorburn announced their split in September last year.
Now, Thorburn has spoken out about their separation and the “dark days” following their breakup in an interview with Woman’s Day.
“I realised I was going through stages of grief, and to me it was like someone had died,” she told the publication.
“The children still have a father but I don’t have a husband. He really is dead to me and no, we won’t ever be friends again.”
Thorburn added: “There were days in the beginning I would get up, put on a brave face and drop the kids at school, then I’d get to the back door and I would lie in a heap for the rest of the day unable to move — there were very dark days”.
Stefanovic and Thorburn have three children, Jackson, 18, Ava, 12 and River, 10, who live with their mother.
Thorburn said her focus firmly remains on the happiness of her children.
“I’m only concentrating on being strong in every way, and being the best mum I can be,” she explained.
Stefanovic, 43, has since started dating 33-year-old shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough.
In September, Yarbrough told the Herald Sun about the difficulties of seeing someone with such a high profile.
“I don’t think anyone expects this or prepares to have this much attention, it’s been very hard,” she said. “It was tough at the start, but I guess it’s not my focus. I just let it go, (and) not add to it as much as I can.”
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