Channel Ten is desperately trying to discover who leaked sensational audio of their star Lisa Wilkinson preparing Brittany Higgins for an interview on The Project.

The six hours of audio reveals Wilkinson, Higgins, her partner David Sharaz and Ten executive producer Angus Llewllyn giving damning views on political figures.

At one stage, Wilkinson describes then Defence Minister Linda Reynolds as an “idiot”, and “a nobody”, and asks “who is this f***king woman?”.

The recording also features Wilkinson assuring Higgins that then Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese would “definitely” raise her story in Parliament.

Wilkinson has since denied she ever contacted Albanese to follow through on the promise.

This is all anyone needs to see to know that something is not right here. Seize Katy Gallagher's phone if she won't cooperate and investigate the text message records to see if they match up with Sharaz's. Is there any penalty for misleading the Australian people? What happened… pic.twitter.com/ENRRxVJBad

— Rukshan Fernando (@therealrukshan) June 8, 2023

As well as the leaked audio, thousands of SMS messages from Brittany Higgins’ phone have been given to media outlets.

The leaked texts include discussions with Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons about a $325,000 book deal.

In another series of text messages, Sharaz describes then Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a “c***t.”

Ten’s lawyers are trying to work out who had access to the highly sensitive material in a bid to discover who might have leaked it.

The explosive recording was made by the producer Angus Llewllyn on his mobile phone at a Sydney hotel on January 27, 2021 during a meeting to prepare Higgins for her interview on The Project.