Looks are deceptive when it comes to Karl Stefanovic.

Underneath that laidback boyish charm is the hardest working man in Australian television.

Not only does he wake up at 3am to bring his breakfast cheer to our busy mornings as co-host of Channel Nine’s Today show with Lisa Wilkinson, but he burns the midnight oil hosting his new panel show The Verdict on Thursday nights.

He also presents stories on 60 Minutes, and is the go-to Nine personality to report on the big news events.

Whether he’s on air for eight hours reporting live on the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine, in New Zealand from the rubble of the Christchurch earthquake or covering the carnage of deposed prime ministers on the lawns of Parliament House, the Gold Logie winner does serious journalism as well as any of the gravitas merchants of the press gallery.

But then he flicks the switch to vaudeville, and out comes the bawdy Queenslander his fans have come to know and love.

I’ve shared a set with him every week or so for the past few years on the Today show’s Mixed Grill segment, as well as the occasional outside broadcast in Canberra, and he is always the same: courteous, good-natured, and full of fun. The minute the camera flicks on, Serious Karl is back, but the mischief is never far away.

When the Today show set blew over in a wind gust and hit Wilkinson on the head during an outside broadcast in Canberra the day after Tony Abbott was ousted as Prime Minister, Stefanovic quickly lifted the canopy to protect his co-star. Once she had assured him she was OK, he hammed up the moment for the assembled crew.

media_camera Is it a bird? A plane? No, just the nation’s capital on a windy day. (Pic: Miranda Devine)

He is a typical Aussie larrikin, boasting about the hair on his back, under the blue suit he hasn’t changed all year. But there is also an edge of thoughtful sophistication which the 41-year-old mostly does his best to hide.

Daily Telegraph columnist and RendezView editor Sarrah Le Marquand, who appears opposite Stefanovic on the Today show each week, believes his reputation for being blokey is misleading and dubbed him “Australia’s accidental feminist icon” after his one-man social experiment last year, in which he wore the same suit every day to expose the wardrobe double standards experienced by Wilkinson.

Karl's suit-up goes global The Today show discuss the global reaction to Karl's suit-wearing fight against sexism. Courtesy TODAY/Channel 9

“I just did it as a thing,” the man himself says of the feminist tag. “I’m working with one of the foremost feminists in Australian media. I love strong women. I love opinionated woman. I love any woman that makes you feel something, Not everyone’s up for that but I love it and I’m challenged by it and it makes me a better person.”

For young men who make up a big part of his fan base, Stefanovic is an admirable antidote to the stultifying political correctness that has engulfed much of the mainstream media.

“In an era where everything is so PC and everyone is so bridled it is a relief to see someone in that position have such a nonchalant attitude and the confidence of personality to still be funny and immature,” says one 20-year-old university student who shares Stefanovic outtakes on YouTube with friends.

“He does it in a uniquely Australian way as well, by ‘taking the piss’. What makes him unique is his privileged position as a somewhat serious TV journalist) which makes people think ‘I can’t believe he is acting like that — it’s hilarious’.”

Stefanovic gives the impression on air that he doesn’t care about conventions of propriety or how people perceive him. And off camera, he doesn’t care either. With critics lining up to trash The Verdict, he just shrugs and says, “We’re going to have fun”.

media_camera Columnist Miranda Devine (pictured third from left) says the Karl she knows off camera is always the same: courteous, good-natured, and full of fun. (Pic: Miranda Devine)

The now household name grew up catching fish and making mischief with two younger brothers on the outskirts of Brisbane in a childhood he describes as like a boy’s own adventure.

He has never lost that wild side, which finds expression these days in that exuberant TV performance after a Logies all-nighter, and the odd politically incorrect joke which sends the twittersphere into a paroxysm of rage.

There was the time he asked an Indian cricket fan “Who’s going to be manning 7-Elevens today?” before a World Cup semi-final against India at the SCG.

The Swami Army member gave back as good as he got: “You might have to look at Centrelink as well, I think, Karl.”

But the outrage machine accused Stefanovic of racism.

He apologised the next day, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and lived to joke another day.

“I meant it as pure fun,” he tells me. “The worst you can say is it’s a lame joke. But there are wowsers out there who just don’t want people to have any kind of fun.”

The most hidden side of his personality is his ambition, but the young cadet TV from WIN TV in Rockhampton and Cairns took just seven years to score the dream job of every TV reporter — as Nine’s foreign correspondent in LA.

In between interviewing celebrities, he studied the most sophisticated broadcast market in the world, and learned the tricks of longevity from the best American presenters.

While critics chastise him for immaturity, he is grounded by wife Cass, who gave up her career in journalism to be a stay at home mum to their three children, Jackson, 15, Ava, 10, and River, 8.

“It is my greatest legacy to have that beautiful family unit. I cherish every moment,” he says.

He met Cass almost 20 years ago when she was the “sexy” and, he was told, unattainable ABC newsreader in Cairns: “Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought she is still such an interesting person. It’s just not boring. There’s a lot of laughter, there a lot of fun and we’ve got three beautiful children who are the loves of my life.”

Yes, there’s a lot more to Stefanovic than he lets on.

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