Cassandra Thorburn: 'I feel like we're dead to Karl's family and anyone from our old life.'

We’ve not seen much of Cassandra Thorburn since her husband of 21 years Karl Stefanovic left her and their three children – aged almost 19, 13, and 11 – in September 2016.

But now Stefanovic’s ex-wife is claiming the breakfast show host’s family and friends “have had practically no contact” with their children since their divorce.

Two years on from their split, the 47-year-old has spoken to The Australian Women’s Weekly in a tell-all interview.

“Last year, I declared that Karl really was dead to me, a man I no longer know, but the children still have their father,” the mother-of-three said.

“The flip-side of that is I feel like we’re dead to his family and almost anyone from our old life.”

“There has been practically no contact. I feel like we’ve been discarded and disposed of, replaced by a whole new line-up of starters,” Thorburn alleges.

Thorburn remained quiet in the storm of speculation and judgment that followed her split with Stefanovic. She said nothing when news broke that Stefanovic, 44, had started dating fashion designer Jasmine Yarbrough, 34.

But then she spoke to Woman's Day in her first interview about their marriage breakdown, where the former journalist said she was "completely gazumped" when she realised Stefanovic had gone.

"There were days in the beginning I would get up, put on a brave face and drop the kids at school, then I’d get to the back door and I would lie in a heap for the rest of the day unable to move," she told Woman's Day.

Mamamia Out Loud discusses Karl Stefanovic and Cassandra Thorburn’s divorce. Post continues below.

"There were very dark days. I questioned and doubted myself about everything," she said. "I slept on the couch in front of the fire for months because I didn’t want to go near the marital bed. I was in a very dark place."

"I realised I was going through stages of grief, and to me it was like someone had died."

Cassandra also didn't feel the need to portray her relationship with her ex-husband as anything other than what it is. There was no pretence of amicability or "conscious uncoupling".

"The children still have a father but I don’t have a husband," she told Woman's Day. "He really is dead to me and no, we won’t ever be friends again."