Karl Stefanovic has reportedly been dumped from his new weekly radio show with Eddie McGuire after controversy erupted over his independent podcast interview with British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The embattled former host of Channel Nine’s Today show is not expected to return to ARN’s The Long Weekend – which launched last month on Gold FM ­– according to Nine newspapers.

A report quoted industry insiders as saying ARN had made “a business decision” to move on from Stefanovic, but that McGuire would continue hosting a similar show.

The Nine Network announced last Friday that it was axing its long-time morning-TV host, “effectively immediately”, following the interview with Robinson on his independent podcast The Karl Stefanovic Show.

“Karl has been a fixture on our screens for over two decades, so we know this is a significant change for our viewers and all of us here at Nine. However, it’s the right time to make it,” said an email to staff from chief executive Matt Stanton.

Stefanovic had been criticised for failing to challenge Robinson during his near hour-long interview, which was released last Tuesday and deleted by Wednesday morning.

Stefanovic told Robinson – an anti-Islam and anti-immigration campaigner who has been banned from several social media platforms and has multiple criminal convictions – that he admired his “tenacity” and “courage”.

Karl Stefanovic interviewed far-right activist Tommy Robinson for his podcast. Photo: X

Despite the fallout from the interview, McGuire had said last Friday that Stefanovic would appear this week on The Long Weekend and speak to him exclusively about “the most tumultuous few days of his career”. However, that is reportedly now not happening.

The pair had only recorded two episodes together of The Long Weekend since it was announced by ARN in May.

At the launch, the network described the show as a “new entertainment format” across radio, podcast and streaming that would include “great music, unmissable banter, big personalities, big opinions, and no-holds-barred discussions”.

“The Long Weekend will see two of the biggest names in Australian media discuss the biggest news, sport and entertainment moments of the week, joined by guests at the centre of the stories shaping the national conversation,” it said at the time.

It has now been suggested ARN feared the Stefanovic podcast controversy could cause another advertiser backlash after it previously said it lost more than $26 million in revenue as a result of the since-axed Kyle and Jackie O Show. 

After Nine’s announcement last Friday that it was axing him, Stefanovic posted his own message on his YouTube channel, saying: “So, I’m free, truly independent.”

He said he believed the public deserved to hear perspectives.

“On my show I’ve spoken to people who have different perspectives, I know that winds some people up,” he said. “Sometimes I agree with everything a guest says, sometimes I don’t.”