‘We welcome 2025 with a last-minute trip to Sydney for a night on the water! Checked wish list item. So spectacular and so fun.
“Thank you @stulaundy44.”
And so, with 27 words and a few champagne and fireworks emojis, the bubbly 7News Queensland news anchor Samantha Heathwood sent the eastern suburbs buzz into overdrive on New Year’s Day.
Posing against the stunning backdrop of the harbour, Samantha’s Instagram post announcing her last-minute rush to Sydney caused group chats across the Emerald City to explode just in time for the midnight fireworks show.
The rumor on everyone’s lips: Had Sam reunited with his old flame, the playboy saloonkeeper and former Bachelorette star? Stu Laundry?
The legend certainly hinted as much, but when I called Stu, he was quick to clarify that he and Sam were just good friends.
7News Queensland newsreader Samantha Heathwood revved up the eastern suburbs rumor mill with this post on New Year’s Day tagging publican Stu Laundy.
Sam’s friends joke that Stu is her ‘alternative guy’ whenever she has problems with her boyfriend.
“She’s a peer, but dating-wise, she’s out of the age group,” the master of hospitality said, referencing his penchant for dating younger women.
And why would Sam, who is in his early 40s, share such a surprising post announcing where and who he had spent New Year’s Eve with?
Well, we heard that the glamorous reporter had just had a little fight with her boyfriend and wanted to send a clear message.
Stu didn’t want to go into details about Sam’s private life, but he did say, laughing, “Look, I’m happy to be the knight in shining armor for any girl who wants to escape to Sydney for solace.”
The TV presenter’s friends are known to joke that Stu is her ‘alternative guy’ whenever she has problems with her boyfriend.
And it’s not the first time the gallant pub baron has swung into action to give Sam a shoulder to cry on.
The single mother-of-two previously revealed how Laundy intervened after an ex-boyfriend dumped her on the day her ex-husband remarried.
“I really liked this guy and could see a future with him, but he broke up with me over text. It was really horrible and it was Stu who said, ‘Oh shit, we better keep you busy over the weekend or you’ll cry.’ “he said at the time.
After the post, Stu was quick to clarify that he and Sam were just good friends.
Sam was invited to Stu’s 50th birthday party at Arturo’s Rooftop in Woolloomooloo in 2022.
Birthday boy Stu is pictured at his party with a glamorous guest
The then Nine News regional presenter said the guy in question returned a week later and apologised, and the pair tried to make it work one last time, but to no avail.
Sam, originally from Toowoomba, married at 27 before going through a divorce she described as “horrible”.
After the breakdown of her marriage, she was linked to The Bachelorette star Sasha Mielczarek following her split from Sam Frost, who had chosen him as her winning suitor.
But sadly, their first date in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley hit a snag when Sasha turned out to be a little shorter than Sam had expected.
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