Former television presenter Lisa Wilkinson has spoken about the toll of the past five years, including her involvement in a high-profile defamation case, as she promotes her new book about Australia's only Titanic survivor, Evelyn Marsden.
Wilkinson, who resigned from The Project in 2022 after an interview with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, said the defamation proceedings brought by Bruce Lehrmann were 'not fun for anyone'. She noted that the process was lengthy but ended with a 'great outcome' when the High Court dismissed Lehrmann's final application for special leave to appeal earlier this month.
The author and former Today show host appeared on the programme this week with Karl Stefanovic, her former co-host, for the first time since leaving in 2017 over a pay dispute. Describing the interview as 'just like getting back on the bike', Wilkinson said everything was fine between them.
Wilkinson's new book, which tells the story of Evelyn Marsden – a South Australian nurse who survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 – was inspired by a casual conversation with her husband, author Peter FitzSimons. She said the project provided a welcome diversion from legal troubles: 'I love working, so not working and spending time with lawyers felt very unbalanced to me.'
