Lisa Wilkinson's book 'fails to mention' $500,000 contract with vitamin brand

Lisa Wilkinson's upcoming book, It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, reportedly fails to mention an important detail about her departure from Channel Nine in late 2017.

Two months before her exit, the former Today show host, 61, signed a separate $500,000 contract with vitamin company Vitaco that caused a major headache for the network.

Wilkinson's deal with Vitaco - which included TV adverts and Instagram posts - was problematic for Nine because it meant the station 'did not have full access to her for a range of duties', reports The Australian.

Her commercial deal with the now-defunct website HuffPost Australia caused similar issues because it limited how Nine could use Wilkinson on its digital platforms.

By contrast, her co-anchor Karl Stefanovic - whom Wilkinson accuses of earning more than double her salary, prompting her to demand a pay rise that ultimately led to her sacking - had agreed to not sign any external contracts. 

The alleged omission of this detail challenges Wilkinson's narrative that Nine fired her because she'd asked for pay parity with her male colleague.

In reality, Stefanovic may have been paid more because Nine was able to use him exclusively across various platforms, while Wilkinson's outside contracts prohibited this. 

Meanwhile, the Vitaco deal also caused PR issues for Nine at the time.

The health claims made by the company in regard to the Nutra-Life brand Wilkinson was spruiking - namely that aged garlic extract 'may help to support healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels' - were questioned by scientific experts.

Wilkinson's deal was even featured on an episode of ABC's Media Watch.

The program highlighted a 2016 segment from the Today show featuring Wilkinson in which Dr Penny Adams said vitamins were 'probably a big waste of your money'.

Wilkinson's book doesn't hit store shelves until next month, but her sensational account of her sacking from Nine in 2017 is already being disputed.

Readers have had glimpses of the book in extracts published by News Corp papers, but several claims she makes have been challenged by industry insiders, who accuse her of omitting key facts and embellishing the truth.

Here are all the disputed claims from the memoir, allowing readers to decide for themselves whether it should be categorised under 'fact' or 'fiction'.

Claim 1: Lisa says Karl snubbed her wedding. Fact: The guests didn't know it was a wedding

Wilkinson's claim that Stefanovic intentionally 'snubbed' her vow renewals with husband Pete FitzSimons has been disputed by guests who attended the ceremony. 

The Sunday Project host says Stefanovic's no-show at the October 2017 event was the final straw for their troubled relationship - even going so far as to imply he refused the invitation because he knew she was about to get sacked from Nine. 

But this narrative has been disputed by guests who attended the ceremony, many of whom told The Australian they didn't know it was a wedding until they arrived.

If this was the case and Stefanovic hadn't been told ahead of time the event was to celebrate Wilkinson and FitzSimons renewing their vows, then his decision to pull out at the last minute arguably wasn't the snub Wilkinson is making it out to be.

It's unclear if Stefanovic was made aware his co-anchor and her husband of 25 years were planning to renew their vows, or if he was simply told it was a party.

Regardless of what he knew, Wilkinson took Stefanovic's last-minute cancellation to heart, and it effectively marked the end of their personal and professional relationship. 

Claim 2: Karl was paid more than Lisa. Fact: Lisa was actually paid more than him for years

Lisa's book includes a chapter dedicated to her sacking from Channel Nine and falling out with Stefanovic over a pay dispute.

She alleges Stefanovic proposed in August 2015 they join forces to renegotiate their Nine contracts - not unlike how the cast of American sitcom Friends famously worked together to broker better deals with NBC.

But she claims he ended up ditching this idea and instead played rival networks Nine and Seven off against each other in order to secure a better deal for himself.

'Weeks later... the media became awash with stories that Stefanovic was restless at Today and looking for greener pastures – and more civilised working hours – at Channel Seven,' she wrote.

Stefanovic was soon at the centre of a bidding war between Nine and Seven that resulted in him re-signing a five-year deal with Nine worth at least $2million per year.

Wilkinson's deal was worth significantly less, about $780,000 a year, and was only for two years.

'There was no doubt about it: Karl certainly knew the art of the deal,' she wrote, adding that the resulting pay disparity between them 'was so off the charts that no-one would have believed it'. 

However, this allegedly doesn't tell the full story.

News.com.au reported last week Wilkinson had in fact earned more than Stefanovic for years when they first joined forces on

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