‘I know who he is’: Cass Thorburn’s pointed remarks about Karl Stefanovic as she declares she’s cancer-free

It’s been 10 years since Karl Stefanovic and Cass Thorburn announced they were ending their 20-year marriage.

In the years since, Karl has gone on to marry shoe designer and model Jasmine Yarbrough, start his own controversial podcast and leave his lucrative hosting gig at Today.

Cass has competed on Dancing With The Stars, hosted a divorce podcast, been diagnosed with breast cancer and began working for a not-for-profit.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald this week, Cass said that despite forging a completely separate path to her ex-husband, she’s never been able to escape the label of “bitter ex”.

“The media wanted me to be a bitter ex-wife because there’s a name for it, because that’s what they call every ex-wife,” she told the publication. “What’s the term for the man? They never use one.”

“I have an inherent distrust of the media because they decided who they wanted me to be, not who I am,” she continued.

The 55-year-old said that experience made her determined to be in charge of her own story, especially when she was diagnosed with rare triple-negative occult breast cancer in February this year.

“They weren’t interested in who I was while I was married, but once I got divorced, they certainly decided who I should be and how that was going to play out,” she told SMH.

“So I felt this time, when I was diagnosed, I’m not going through that again. I can tell this story myself.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Cass revealed that she hasn’t heard from Karl since sharing her diagnosis publicly earlier this year.

“No, I know who he is. It’s others that don’t,” she told the publication.

She also remarked that Karl has always been into “clickbait” when the interviewer brought up his new podcast.

After months of treatment, the mum-of-three is now cancer-free and looking forward to being able to visit her daughter Willow in London. Willow made the journey back to Australia earlier in the year when Cass was first diagnosed.

“Cass and Willow were actually planning a driving holiday around the UK when Cass learned of her cancer diagnosis,” an insider told Woman’s Day at the time.

“With the help of both Karl and Cass, Willow made the decision that instead she would fly home and spend quality time with her mum.”

Cass first spoke about her diagnosis in February after posting a photo of herself with a shaved head on Instagram.

“I’m going to have to read this because on my walk this morning, I thought about all the reasons why I made that post yesterday,” she wrote at the time.

“Most of it is controlling the only part of my treatment and diagnosis that I can. That’s the part about when the hair comes off and when you tell people. For my adult children and for myself, I’m not interested in hiding, and that’s because I’m not alone.”

She went on to explain that she had been diagnosed with the rare form of breast cancer during a routine checkup.

“Breast cancer affects one in seven women in New South Wales, which is where I live. I read that sitting for my mammogram not long ago and I was the one in seven that day.”