Today’s Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo left in shock over schoolboy’s very off-colour joke about vegans

Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo were left in the lurch after a primary school viewer made a cheeky joke about vegans.

The Today show stars were left red-faced when the innocent-looking boy started asking the couple a question.

‘A vegan and a vegetarian jump off a cliff to see who will hit the bottom first. Who wins?’ he asked, as the pair looked perplexed.

“I don’t know,” said Karel. ‘Who wins?’ Sara added.

The youngster didn’t miss a beat when he said, “society.”

The pair burst into laughter at the dark joke, with Karl almost falling off the sofa.

Newsreader Brooke Boney also held her hand over her mouth as she laughed in a fit of shock and horror.

“We didn’t expect that,” Sarah said, laughing.

It comes as Sunrise continues to dominate in the ratings over Nine, with viewers warming up to newcomer Matt Shirvington.

The former Olympian made his official debut as co-host, replacing David Koch in June, boosting the breakfast show.

In May, Today show boss Steve ‘Burlo’ Burling came out against a Daily Telegraph story saying the show was in crisis.

The article claimed the ‘beleaguered’ breakfast show is in crisis due to ‘plunging’ ratings and viewers allegedly not warming up to new co-host Sarah Abo.

However, in an extraordinary statement to Daily Mail Australia, Steve called the report a “fabrication” based on an outdated method of measuring TV ratings.

The child said: ‘A vegan and a vegetarian jump off a cliff to see who will hit the bottom first. Who wins?’ he asked, as the pair looked perplexed. The young person further said: ‘society’

The story also claimed there were tensions among the Today show presenters after newsreader Alex Cullen was demoted to the sports desk, while entertainment reporter Brooke Boney moved to the news desk.

This early-year reshuffling – which coincided with Abo replacing Allison Langdon as co-host – is said to have resulted in Cullen making his displeasure known on air by ‘deadpanning’ Stefanovic and Abo.

This incident reportedly resulted in Burling holding a “closed-door meeting” with Cullen.

It comes as Sunrise continues to dominate in the ratings over Nine, with viewers warming up to newcomer Matt Shirvington. Pictured

Burling hit back at the damning report, telling Daily Mail Australia it was all nonsense.

“The story published today is a total fabrication and a perversion of the archaic and antiquated rating system,” he said.

“We are well-placed with Today and Today Extra with the metropolitan and East Coast audiences, and in the all-important younger demographic.

“Our team works brilliantly together and the crowd reaction to the line-up couldn’t have been more positive,” he finished.

Nine’s Today boss hit back at claims the network was unhappy with the breakfast show’s performance in May, calling it a “fabrication”. In the photo: Sarah Abo during this year’s Logies