“Karl Stefanovic received quite a fright on Friday as he prepared to do a live cross on the Today show.”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
The host, 50, was in Tweed Heads ahead of surfer Mick Fanning’s charity golf day.
As he prepared to deliver the cross, Karl was interrupted by a spooky Friday 13th prank as he stood in the chilly Tweed Heads pre-dawn.
In a clip shared to the Today Instagram page, a producer can be heard asking Karl to ‘look down.’
Apparently already wise to the potential ruse, Karl replied: ‘I’m not going to look down you’re trying to wind me up.’
From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail’s new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
Curiosity got the better of Karl who then looked to the ground, shocked at what he discovered.
He almost jumped out of his skin when he realised he was standing next to a snake and he quickly made every effort to extricate himself from the potentially dangerous situation.
His efforts were in vain however, as the snake, eventually identified as a rubber replica, followed Karl as he jumped around the carpark.
It had not come to life, but was rather attached to Karl’s jacket.
The host then picked up the offending rubber reptile and hurled it back toward the crew and to Today presenter Tim Davies who appeared to have engendered the prank.
‘Who did that?’ he demanded looking less than pleased. ‘That’s not funny.’
Co-host Sarah Abo did not escape the spooky shenanigans, either.
The clip also showed the Nine star walking into a dressing room that was occupied by Tim who was wearing a scream-worthy clown mask.
Like her co-star, Sarah, 39, was genuinely shocked by the surreptitious scare, almost immediately darting out of the room in fear.
Tim appeared more than chuffed that his scare tactic was successful, throwing his arms triumphantly into the air as he gleefully shouted, ‘yeah!’
The hilarious clip issued a raft of laughing face emojis in the comments section, while some fans disagreed with Karl’s assessment of the situation.
‘Quite the contrary @karlstefanovic_ that was EXTREMELY funny,’ one quipped. ‘Well played @mr_timdavies well bloody played.’
Another, noticing Karl’s reaction the prank, chimed in with: ‘Lighten up Karl. It’s p*** funny.’
One fan suggested that there was a more nefarious reason behind Tim’s pranks – he way vying for a hosting gig on the popular Nine breakfast show.
‘Trying to take few years off the hosts’ lives, so they retire earlier?’ they asked.
Another fan empathised with Karl, adding: ‘From one snake phobia person to another.. that is not funny. Got him good though.’
Sarah, too jumped into the comments to congratulate Tim on a job well done.
‘@mr_timdavies you got me SO GOOD,’ to which he replied: ‘Sorry, not sorry.’
Karl’s snake fright comes after declaring he would run nude into the surf at Bondi Beach if Queensland loses game two of the State Of Origin rugby league clash.
He called in to Triple M this week to goad former NSW second-rower Aaron Woods and lay down the daring wager.
‘Here’s the bet, Woodsy,’ he announced.
‘The loser of the Origin game in Perth runs naked into the Bondi surf.’
Woods, no stranger to big challenges, didn’t hesitate.
‘We’re on, Karlos,’ he said.
Stefanovic then added: ‘Next to Richard Wilkins.’