Weekend Today (Australian TV program)
| Company type | Television program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | February 1, 2009 |
| Headquarters | North Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Clint Stanaway (Co-host & Sport), Alison Piotrowski (Co-host), Lizzie Pearl (News), Dan Anstey (Weather) |
| Products | Breakfast television show |
| Website | www |
Weekend Today is a breakfast television show in Australia, currently presented by Clint Stanaway and Alison Piotrowski. Since 2009, it has been broadcast live on the Nine Network, airing from 7am until 10am on weekends, with production based at studios in North Sydney, New South Wales.
History
In January 2009, the Nine Network's CEO David Gyngell alongside former news director John Westacott announced the introduction of Today on Sunday, designed to rival Seven Network's Weekend Sunrise. The program premiered on 1 February 2009, featuring hosts Cameron Williams and Leila McKinnon, with news segments by Amber Sherlock and sports coverage presented by Tim Gilbert on Saturdays and Michael Slater on Sundays.
By 2 May 2009, Nine expanded its weekend lineup with Today on Saturday, retaining the original presenting team. This move marked Australia's first continuous seven-day breakfast news broadcast. The weekend shows were initially renamed Today: Weekend Edition before adopting the title Weekend Today in July 2009. This strategic expansion sought to enhance Nine’s news offerings and recapture viewer market share.
September 2012 saw an extension of the Saturday broadcast to three hours. Two years later, in September 2014, Deborah Knight took over co-hosting duties from McKinnon. Following Cameron Williams’ departure in February 2016, Peter Stefanovic stepped into the co-host role. Stefanovic transitioned to 60 Minutes later that year and was succeeded by Tom Steinfort.
In December 2017, Deborah Knight moved to a primetime news position, with Allison Langdon stepping in as her replacement on Weekend Today. Peter Stefanovic returned as co-host but left Nine in December 2018. Subsequently, David Campbell joined as co-host in January 2019 alongside sport presenter Clint Stanaway and weather presenter Tim Davies.
Karl Stefanovic rejoined as co-host with Allison Langdon in November 2019. By December of that year, Richard Wilkins replaced Campbell as co-host alongside Rebecca Maddern; Jayne Azzopardi continued presenting news while Lauren Phillips handled weather updates.
After Rebecca Maddern resigned in November 2021, Belinda Russell assumed her role and Charles Croucher was added to the team; Jayne Azzopardi remained the news presenter. Lauren Phillips departed to concentrate on radio work. In October 2022, Charles Croucher was promoted to Nine News Political Editor.
Early in 2023, Belinda Russell left the program; Clint Stanaway and Jayne Azzopardi became co-hosts with Sophie Walsh taking over as news presenter. In July 2024, Azzopardi transitioned to the main Today show; Sophie Walsh was elevated to co-host of Weekend Today, while Lizzie Pearl took her place as news presenter. Following a six-week trial period, Alison Piotrowski succeeded Walsh as host in February 2025.
Hosts
| Presenter | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Clint Stanaway | Co-host & Sport | 2023–present |
| Alison Piotrowski | Co-host | 2025–present |
| Lizzie Pearl | News | 2024–present |
| Dan Anstey | Weather | 2022–present |
Anchors
Prominent presenters who have hosted Weekend Today include:
| Host | Tenure |
|---|---|
| Cameron Williams and Leila McKinnon | 2009–2014 |
| Cameron Williams and Deborah Knight | 2014–2016 |
| Peter Stefanovic and Deborah Knight | 2016 |
| Tom Steinfort and Deborah Knight | 2017 |
| Peter Stefanovic and Allison Langdon | 2018 |
| David Campbell and Allison Langdon | 2019 |
| Richard Wilkins and Rebecca Maddern | 2020–2021 |
| Richard Wilkins, Belinda Russell, Charles Croucher | 2022 |
| Clint Stanaway and Jayne Azzopardi | 2023–2024 |
| Clint Stanaway and Sophie Walsh | 2024 |
| Clint Stanaway and Alison Piotrowski | 2025–present |
Substitute Hosts
Recent stand-in presenters for Weekend Today have included Tim Davies, Gavin Morris, Lizzie Pearl, Dan Anstey, and Lara Vella. Earlier fill-in hosts featured prominent journalists such as Amelia Adams, Adam Hegarty, Alex Cullen, Brett McLeod, Wendy Kingston, David Campbell, Dougal Beatty, Tim Gilbert, Sylvia Jeffreys, Alicia Loxley, Davina Smith, Belinda Russell, Clint Stanaway, Ben Fordham, Ken Sutcliffe, James Bracey, among others.
Correspondents
| Region | Correspondent(s) |
|---|---|
| Sydney | Lara Vella Jack Hahn Sarah Stewart |
| Melbourne | Christine Ahern Izabella Staskowski |
| Queensland | Mia Glover Andrea Crothers |
| Canberra | Charles Croucher Andrew Probyn Eliza Edwards Amanda Copp |
| Europe | Edward Godfrey Jessica Millward Hannah Sinclair |
| USA | Jonathan Kearsley Lauren Tomasi Reid Butler |
News Presenters
Notable news anchors have comprised:
- Amber Sherlock (2009–2010)
- Alicia Loxley (2010–2011)
- Deborah Knight (2011–2014)
- Sylvia Jeffreys (2014)
- Wendy Kingston (2014–2015)
- Jayne Azzopardi (2016–2023)
- Sophie Walsh (2023–2024)
- Lizzie Pearl (2024–present)
Sports Presenters
Throughout the years, sport presenting duties have been held by:
- Michael Slater (2009–2010)
- Tim Gilbert (2009–2014)
- Nathan Brown (2014)
- Cameron Williams (2015–2016)
- Tom Steinfort (2016–2017)
- Peter Stefanovic (2016, 2018)
- Clint Stanaway (2019, 2023–present)
- Jayne Azzopardi (2020–2023)
Weather Presenters
In December 2009, Felicity Whelan commenced presenting weather segments on Weekend Today after winning a competition for weekend weather presenters and also served as a substitute for Steven Jacobs on Today. By April 2010, Emma Freedman took over as the primary fill-in weather presenter, replacing Whelan who moved to Network Ten. Following budget reductions at Nine Network, Freedman was made redundant towards the end of 2014. Natalia Cooper was appointed as weather presenter in 2015. Steve Jacobs transitioned from Today to Weekend Today as weather presenter in December 2016. Tim Davies, a reporter from Nine News, joined as weather presenter in March 2019. After Davies was promoted to Today, Lauren Phillips succeeded him on Weekend Today in December 2019. Phillips resigned in November 2021 to concentrate on her radio career and was replaced by Dan Anstey starting January 2022.
Weather presenters have included:
- Felicity Whelan (2009–2010)
- Emma Freedman (2010–2014)
- Natalia Cooper (2015–2016)
- Steve Jacobs (2017–2018)
- Tim Davies (2019)
- Lauren Phillips (2019–2021)
- Dan Anstey (2022–present)
Entertainment
In February 2009, Weekend Today welcomed Michele Mahone as their Hollywood Gossip reporter, delivering entertainment news until the program altered its format in September 2013. Following this change, Susanne Messara took over presenting entertainment updates from the couch, though this approach was brief. In 2014, media figure Giselle Ugarte was appointed as the Hollywood-based entertainment presenter. The following year, Elle Halliwell, a Daily Telegraph columnist, succeeded Ugarte before the entertainment segments were eventually phased out.
Those who have served as entertainment presenters include:
- Michele Mahone (2009–2013)
- Susanne Messara (2013–2014)
- Gisele Ugarte (2014)
- Elle Halliwell (2015)