Allison Langdon opens up about hurtful coverage of Tracy Grimshaw snub
Australian presenter Allison Langdon put on a brave face when she copped an apparent snub from Tracy Grimshaw on national TV.
The TV journalist, who co-hosted Today with Karl Stefanovic for three years before landing the pinnacle hosting gig replacing the A Current Affair stalwart for 2023, even poked fun at the footage herself on the Nine breakfast show at the time.
The video in question was filmed as Grimshaw walked through a guard of honour at the Channel 9 studio in November following her final show, where she appeared to reject Langdon’s embrace.
It led to speculation of tension between the pair, which both women denied at the time.
In a new cover story for Stellar magazine, Langdon said she was disheartened the clip led to the media once more pitting women against one another.
“It’s a great narrative of women hating women, but I’m sorry … It’s not the truth,” Langdon said on Stellar’sSomething To Talk About podcast.
“I’ve got to say, [subsequent reporting of the incident] was hurtful in the sense that I’ve worked so hard and for something that’s so important to me – female relationships in this business – for that to be taken that way, I really didn’t like it.”
While Grimshaw said the reason for the dismissal was because she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, Langdon, who at the time was yet to officially be announced as host of ACA, said there was another probable reason Grimshaw skipped her as she said her goodbyes.
“Trace sent me a great message very early that morning – which is good of her, because I know she was singing karaoke at [her farewell party at Sydney bar] The Pickled Possum until about two in the morning. So well done her for being up at 6am,” Langdon began.
“I think the problem was that she knew I was the new host – it hadn’t yet been announced – so she and I had been talking a lot. And I think in that moment, she’s overwhelmed because, if you know Trace, she hates a fuss.
“So we’re all standing and cheering her, and it wasn’t her favourite place to be. And it was like, ‘Gee, hang on, if I give Ally a hug and that gets snapped, then [people might know she’s the new host].’”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging chat, Langdon also revealed why she thinks breakfast shows regularly generate media headlines, with publications often picking up on everything from awkward on-air moments, to controversial opinions and developments in the host’s personal lives.
“You’re putting sleep-deprived people in front of a national audience and then a lot of it’s not scripted and you’re saying, ‘Off you go for the next three-and-three-quarter hours’,” she said.
“There’s scrutiny because sometimes you say stuff when you’re a little bit tired.”
Langdon said she experienced the struggles of being exhausted on live TV after returning to the show following a knee injury in 2021, which she suffered on-air in a hydrofoil segment gone wrong.
“There was a period when I came back after I had my surgery and did the show on pain relief medication Endone [opioids] for several months,” she revealed.
“We’d get to an ad break and Karl would be like, ‘OK, cool, cool, cool. Do you know what you just said?’ I’d be like, ‘No.’ But I got away with more than he did.
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“He got away with nothing. And rightly so [laughs].”
Allison Langdon’s full interview can be read in today’s Stellar magazine, included with the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Herald Sun.
Or listen to the latest episode of the Something To Talk About podcast, by pressing play here:
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