In 25 years as the face of Channel Nine, Karl Stefanovic made international news twice. Once when he was crowned “hero of 2014” for wearing the same suit for a year to highlight sexism, and this week when he was dumped from his $2.8m contract for embracing far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The journey between the two extremes is what the Australian television industry is grappling with as the jovial, popular host of the middle-of-the-road breakfast show took a sharp turn to the right and blew up his $2.8m network television career.

“I’m judged on my interviews … whereas women are quite often judged on what they’re wearing or how their hair is,” Stefanovic said 12 years ago when he was admired as much for his playful persona as his ability to anchor live news. A year earlier he won the highest accolade in television, a Gold Logie for most popular personality, for his skill in juggling doing “nudie runs” and tough interviews with political leaders.

In 2016, 11 years after he joined the show after a stint as a foreign correspondent, Today overtook its rival, Sunrise, as the most popular breakfast show on commercial television.

Stefanovic’s news director at the time, Darren Wick, explained that “Karl is Karl” and, that while he could be a clown, he was also the best in the business at live broadcasting. “Karl going for the nude streak – no one else can do that,” Wick said.

Already a favourite with female viewers, the telegenic Stefanovic won more brownie points when he berated the Daily Mail on air for intrusive journalism and shaming women for their looks.

“He’s a charming broadcaster with a nice voice,” a senior Nine journalist told Guardian Australia on Friday, speaking about his earlier success. “He looks safe to middle Australia.”

Guardian columnist Brigid Delaney was his biggest fan: “How many people could do three hours a day of live breakfast television where you are required to segue from the federal budget to weather banter to pet of the day, without breaking a sweat?”

Late last year Nine gave Stefanovic the green light for an independently produced podcast, as a trade-off for a final 12-month contract which had been slimmed down from its glory days.

Stefanovic’s time at Nine was coming to an end. The podcast appeared to be part of his exit plan from mainstream broadcasting. With network television’s revenues plummeting and Today now behind its rival breakfast show, the days of huge salaries were over.

“I’m free and independent to talk to the people that I’m curious about,” Stefanovic said ahead of the launch of The Karl Stefanovic Show in January. “It’s unscripted, unfiltered, uncensored.

“I’m going to unleash the beast. Are you ready to walk on the wild side?”

It took less than six months for the beast to overtake the polished TV star.

On Friday, Nine announced its Today show co-host was leaving “immediately”, because “it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast”.

Stefanovic posted a farewell video on social media: “I’m free, truly independent,” he claimed after losing the job he once described as the best “mix out there to keep all of my personalities interested”.

“I love Today, it’s part of me,” he told the Guardian in 2016.

There were early signs that the type of content he embraced could put him at odds with Nine.

He took to podcasting platforms, as well as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and began to publish interviews that did not align with his public image, or more importantly, Nine News’ trusted brand.

While he has invited the likes of the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, on to his show, he has also stacked his YouTube schedule with a slew of rightwing guests – and when they attracted the biggest audience, he doubled down and invited them on again.

Stefanovic began to backtrack on some things he had said on Nine. Where he once fronted Nine’s vaccination push, he now said he was “legitimately sorry” for urging Australians to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

“My whole career has been about balance but [the media are] becoming beige,” Stefanovic told his new online audience, signalling his abandonment of the middle-ground journalism of the Today show to join a thriving community of anti-woke podcasters.

Satirical news site the Betoota Advocate was prescient when it published the headline: “Stefanovic Running Out Of Australian Podcast Guests Who Can Feed The Algorithm With Racial And Far-Right Grievances”.

After six months’ recording in Australia, Stefanovic travelled to the UK to interview Robinson.

What brought him undone was the adoption of the defining feature of Joe Rogan’s hugely successful podcast: combining hard-right discussions with a softball interview style.

This rankled Nine’s executive and its journalists. “We’ve all worked tirelessly to build a news and current affairs brand built on trust and respect, and we will always fight to uphold that,” Nine’s director of news Fiona Dear said on Friday.

Stefanovic didn’t get to say goodbye on television for Nine: the company could not have him back once he had strayed so far from the standards of objective journalism.

“I didn’t get the chance to thank my free-to-air audience for 21 great years, so thank you for riding the ups and downs,” Stefanovic instead said in a video filmed on a park bench in Cannes, France. “You have my thanks and you have all of my love.”

Stefanovic framed his departure as a matter of his free speech being curtailed.

“Freedom of speech here and around the world is what this show is about,” he said. “You don’t have to listen to my show. You have the power. You are smart enough to make up your own mind.”

But Nine has pushed back on that claim.

“Protecting freedom of speech is at the core of 9News and Current Affairs,” Dear said. “We have a rich history of interviewing controversial figures, and journalists have an obligation to ask difficult questions.”

Another senior Nine journalist said the podcasts were “so soft” and “he didn’t ask any tough questions, it was just so pathetic. He’s turned off everybody in mainstream Australia.

“He is not the first white, middle-aged man who’s become angry and money-grubby. He’s a narcissist. He’ll charm you just long enough, so he can see his own reflection in your eyes.”