Ally Langdon’s Mercedes Benz has been towed from the Today carpark on the host’s final episode of the morning show.
Friday marked Ally’s last hurrah on the Channel 9 breakfast panel before she starts her new role as host of A Current Affair.
True to form, co-host Karl Stefanovic couldn’t resist getting in a number of last digs at the star before her exit, but he rounded out the show with an emotional farewell, thanking Ally for her friendship and professionalism.
The media personality appeared stunned as her colleagues relentlessly pranked her on the show, having her car towed, clearing out her desk and teasing her about her alleged flatulence.
In one brutal stunt, weatherman Tim Davies appeared in the network’s carpark with KWT 24-hour Towing hooking Ally’s car up to vacate it’s official Today parking spot.
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“What? You have got to be kidding me,” Ally exclaimed as her vehicle was pulled away.
“We are having an Allison Langdon fire sale – including her car,” Tim joked.
“How much does a German junk like this get? Never looked after. A bit like Ally,” he added.
“We will shift it on out as she goes off to the bright lights of prime time and we will park it somewhere else. Wherever A Current Affair park.”
Later in the show, Tim kept the gags coming, filmed from the Channel 9 offices dumping Ally’s photos and belongings in a cardboard box, rifling through Ally’s trashed dressing room and mocking the star over her Tracy Grimshaw ‘snub’ of last week.
In another segment, a guest referenced the infamous clip of one of Ally’s children saying she “farts a lot” aired on the show back in May as part of a Mother’s Day special.
Dee Dee Dunleavy said: “I would like to say that the family whistleblower who says that Ally farts, there are clouds of rainbows and unicorns flowing through them, they would be very special farts,” she said to laughs from the panel.
But before the show’s end, Karl had Ally in tears with a sweet tribute to his co-host, calling her “a very dear friend” as a series of clips from the past three years rolled.
“Ally, you have been a force of nature behind the scenes, a force in this show, a force of news … A force with our producers making sure every stone is unturned and getting updates on their love life, offering soothing advice like, ‘Drop him. He’s a dud!’ Or, ‘She’s just an eastern suburbs floozy!’”
Elsewhere, he referenced Ally’s horrific knee injury from a water sports accident on the show.
“You smiled, danced and sang your way through pain because you were driven by the … Endone!,” he joked, adding, “No, no. You were driven by a desire for our audience to see the best of us.
“We thank you. It has been an honour to be a colleague and to be friends with you.
“Make this role your own. Your brilliant own,” he added of her next gig, concluding of her time at Today: “You made us better.”
In the final moments of the program, joined by her husband and two kids, Ally told Karl, “The toughest part about leaving the job is leaving you and leaving the and leaving this team. You have become family.
“This has been the best, best job. It’s been such a privilege to be in people’s lounge rooms every morning,” she said.
It was announced on Sunday night that Ally would be leaving Today to take over the spot vacated by Tracy Grimshaw, who left A Current Affair after 17 years this week.
60 Minutes reporter Sarah Abo will join the network’s morning show alongside Karl, Alex Cullen, Brooke Boney and Tim Davies on Monday, January 16. Ally starts her role at A Current Affair on Monday, January 30.
“It is such an incredible honour to be joining the A Current Affair team. A show I love, respect and have been watching since I was in school and Jana Wendt was host,” Ally said in a statement.
“I won’t lie, it’s daunting to be stepping into the role that Tracy has so brilliantly navigated for the past 17 years, with such warmth and compassion. I hope to bring my own warmth and compassion to the show as we continue to tell great stories that matter to our viewers.
“I get it’s a big change for our audience, and also for me personally. There is great sadness at leaving my brilliant Today Show family, in particular my co-host Karl, who has made these past three years so wonderful and fun, although I won’t miss that 3am alarm!”
In her own statement, Sarah Abo said she was “thrilled to be joining the wonderful and hardworking team at Today”.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to work alongside some of the country’s finest journalists at 60 Minutes and travel the nation and world bringing stories to Australian audiences. It is an absolute privilege to meet so many inspirational people and help tell their stories,” she said.
“I can’t wait to put everything I’ve learned from those amazing experiences into my new role at Today. The 3am alarm will be an adjustment, but I’m looking forward to keeping Karl on his toes.”