Lisa Wilkinson wants to make a ‘blockbuster’ return to TV screens – but insiders say she has committed ‘professional suicide’

Lisa Wilkinson wants to return to TV screens after months of inactivity and five dull weeks in court, sources say.

The Channel 10 star and former darling of breakfast TV is keen to do more 'blockbuster interviews' again in the new year, friends told the Weekend Australian.

Wilkinson quit The Project last November and despite remaining on Ten's payroll until the end of 2024, she has not appeared on the channel for 13 months.

Despite her long hiatus from the network, Wilkinson has remained in the public eye through her role in a highly publicized defamation lawsuit.

Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network 10 and Wilkinson over an interview with Brittany Higgins that aired on The Project and online.

In the interview, Ms Higgins did not mention Mr Lehrmann by name but claimed she was raped by a Liberal Staffer in Parliament House in 2019.

The trial concluded on Friday, with the judge acknowledging that it was an “extremely difficult case to deal with in court” due to the controversy.

Friends of Wilkinson say her court appearances have worked to her advantage by giving the TV star 'a constant stream of publicity'.

“Yes, she's been off air for a while, but I don't think anyone has forgotten her,” former Seven and Nine director Peter Meakin told the channel. Weekend Australian.

“I'm sure her loyal followers will remain loyal.”

However, a senior TV media executive who wished to remain anonymous said Wilkinson's return to screens may not be so easy and claimed she had committed 'professional suicide' over the Higgins interview.

During the final day of the trial on Friday, lawyers for Mr Lehrmann and Wilkinson disagreed over her control over the production of her interview with Ms Higgins.

Mr Lehrmann's lawyer, Matthew Richardson SC, rejected the idea that Wilkinson had little decision-making power over the final content of the broadcast.

Friends of Wilkinson say her court appearances have played to her advantage by giving the TV star 'a constant stream of publicity' (she is pictured during a break on December 15)

Wilkinson's barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, argued that the media personality was merely the face of the show and that it was the producers who made the calls.

“I will say it in the documents and we have gone through them very carefully. I think about 80 to 90 percent of the material that she wasn't copied into… her suggestions weren't adopted by the producers. “So she had no decision-making power over the final content of the broadcast,” Ms Chrysanthou said on Thursday.

However, Mr Richardson pointed out that Wilkinson had 'stood on a stage and collected a Logie award for the programme'.

'I am only dealing with a separate role from Mrs Wilkinson on the day of the broadcast, [producer] Chris Bendall described her as responsible for developing, executing and delivering the story,” he told the court.

“Now we see her instructing the counselor to say, 'Well, I don't have much to do with the program, especially at the end.'

He said Wilkinson had drawn up a timeline from Ms Higgins on her allegations. She spent five hours meeting Ms. Higgins in the weeks leading up to the broadcast, and recorded an interview with her a week later.

Mr Richardson then raised the level of involvement The Project producer Angus Llewellyn had in the programme.

“If your Lordship looks out to the horizon and looks far away to the end of the river, your Lordship will see Mr. Llewellyn on a ship bound for the next market town,” he said.

At that comment, Wilkinson looked up from her notebook, grimaced, and slowly shook her head.

Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network 10 and Wilkinson over an interview with Brittany Higgins that aired on The Project and online

It comes as a senior Paramount executive has found one telling clue that Wilkinson will not return to Channel Ten screens.

Paramount-owned Channel Ten unveiled its 2024 lineup at the Upfronts event last week, but Wilkinson, 63, was not featured.

Network Ten claims they are in talks to develop 'other projects' with Wilkinson.

Television and radio industry expert Peter Ford said Wilkinson was “Australia's highest paid TV star on $44,000 a week and she doesn't actually do anything on camera” and would probably never appear on the Ten Network again.

He told Ny Breaking Australia the legal fallout from Wilkinson's interview with Ms Higgins was “a very toxic situation” for the embattled network.