Jayne Azzopardi and Clint Stanaway have been confirmed as new hosts of Weekend Today, alongside Sophie Walsh.
Stanaway began his career in news before moving to sport and spending time reporting from London.
Azzopardi began her career covering finance before moving to WIN in Wagga, Canberra and Wollongong. After working overseas for media outlets including BBC and CNBC she then joined Nine as a federal politics reporter in Canberra, before moving to Sydney.
“What I love about our team is that we’re all unashamedly passionate about just so many issues.”
“I’m a sports veteran, Jayne’s all about politics and I love Sophie’s cheek and humour, Stanaway said.
“And we’re all from different parts of they country. I’m unashamedly a Melbourne guy, Jayne’s from the Sydney shire and Sophie’s a Queenslander at heart and I love that about us. And I think that’s really showcased on our show,” he adds.
“We’ve known each other for a long time as colleagues,” Stanaway explains.
“See, Jayne’s the sensible one. She started out in finance. Right there is the contrast between us,” Stanaway jokes.
Azzopardi and Stanaway’s long and varied careers make them the perfect hosts for a show which is a weekend blend of news, politics, lifestyle and entertainment stories.
“We’re good listeners, and I’m really excited to sort of showcase people’s stories,” Stanaway explains. “There’s no doubt, I think both of us, and including Sophie, we want to bring a relaxed sort of vibe to the show and have some fun, but as well as keeping people entertained, we know we have a responsibility to keeping people informed as well.”
Azzopardi adds: “Because during the week, everybody’s so rushed, trying to get the kids off to school and get out the door to work. On the weekend everything happens at a little bit of a slower pace.
“So you can have us on the TV while you’re eating breakfast and having your coffee and there’ll be interesting conversations and also maybe helping you make sense of things that have happened during the week that you’ve heard about but you haven’t really had a chance to read a lot about it because it’s too busy.”
Azzopardi says her time on the show with Stanaway has “just been so easy”.
“We have each other’s backs. We all trust each other to be able to do our jobs properly, and all actually really, really like each other,” she says.
“Except when I read Jayne’s lines on the auto cue,” Stanaway adds.
The new Weekend Today team are perfectly placed ahead of one of the biggest stories they will cover in 2023, King Charles III’s coronation on May 6.
Jayne and Clint vote Sophie as their die-hard royal fan, with Jayne looking forward to working on the historic event and Clint “cheering for the underdog” Harry.
