Samantha Armytage made a surprise return to the Sunrise studio on Friday morning after leaving the show three years ago.
Tensions became obvious when the former breakfast TV host, who left Sunrise in 2021, sat alongside co-presenters Matt Shirvington and his rival successor Natalie Barr to promote Famer’s upcoming Channel Seven series Wants A Wife.
Armytage, 47, sat next to Barr, 56, but stayed a few feet away for the interview with this season’s celebrities, Bert and Dustin.
The couple appeared to exchange several awkward glances as Barr and Shirvington welcomed them to the show.
“Samantha Armytage, back on the couch,” Barr said.
Samantha Armytage (pictured) made a surprise return to the Sunrise studio on Friday morning after leaving the show three years ago.
‘Hello! Back on the couch… Thanks, it’s good to be back,” Armytage joked.
Even fans noticed the star’s behavior and took to social media to call him out.
“He seems SO happy to be there…” one user sarcastically wrote on an Australian TV forum. media spy.
It is Armtage’s first time appearing on Sunrise as part of FWAW’s publicity tour, having turned down the morning show in 2022.
Instead, she was interviewed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show while the farmers sat down with Barr and Shirvington.
During Friday’s interview, Armytage, a real-life farmer’s wife who married horse breeder Richard Lavender in late 2020, praised her life outside of the Sunrise studio and her role as host of the matchmaking series.
Tensions became obvious when the former breakfast TV host, who left Sunrise in 2021, sat opposite co-presenters Matt Shirvington (right) and his rival successor Natalie Barr (left) to promote the upcoming Channel Seven series of Famer Wants To Wife.
Even fans noticed the star’s behavior and took to social media to call him out: “He seems SO happy to be there…” one user sarcastically wrote on Media Spy.
‘It is perfect. This show has been great for me. I’m really enjoying it and getting to know these guys. It’s fantastic,’ she said.
Armytage became co-host of Sunrise alongside David ‘Kochie’ Koch in 2013, before leaving in 2021.
She was replaced by Barr, who remains on the morning show with Shirvington after taking over Koch’s duties in 2023.
Armytage “upset” Barr with a sarcastic tweet after leaving the show in March 2021.
‘Look, I’m out. Nat always wanted the job…and she finally got it. “She just needs to move on and enjoy it, and forget about me (even though I’m unforgettable),” she tweeted at the time.
Barr was reportedly “gutted” by her predecessor’s hurtful tweet months after her departure in 2021, suggesting she was desperate for the top job.
The 56-year-old didn’t expect the former presenter to be so “sarcastic” after working together on Seven’s breakfast show for years, a source told New Idea at the time.
“No one was more surprised and saddened by Sam’s comments than Nat,” the source said. “She’s devastated and has no idea why she continues the sarcasm, even though Sam is gone.” [from Sunrise] for months.’
Meanwhile, Barr previously revealed that he did not have a close relationship with Armytage.
When asked about rumors that they weren’t close, Natalie told The Australian Women’s Weekly that the pair “got on well in the office” but rarely spoke after the cameras stopped rolling because they didn’t have much in common. .
“The truth is, we didn’t really see each other outside of the office,” Barr said.
“I guess we had very different lives,” the mother of two added. ‘We were in different places. She was with her friends and I was spending time with my family.
“So, yeah, we were in different places.”
Armytage offered a very revealing response to Barr’s statement during an appearance on The Kyle and Jackie O Show shortly afterward.
Instead of directly addressing their frosty relationship, he paraphrased Oscar Wilde’s famous quote: “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
Radio host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson addressed the issue, saying: “[Natalie] I did an interview where he said that you guys weren’t that close because you didn’t have much in common and you didn’t really talk when the cameras were off.
Armytage (front left) became co-host of Sunrise alongside David ‘Kochie’ Koch in 2013, before leaving in 2021. She was replaced by Barr (front right), who remains on the morning show with Shirvington after who took over Koch’s duties in 2023.
Armytage “upset” Barr with a sarcastic tweet after leaving the show in March 2021: “Look, I’m out.” Nat always wanted the job…and he finally got it. She just needs to move on and enjoy it… and forget about me (even though I’m unforgettable)’
After a pause, Sam dodged the question by saying, ‘Yeah, well, look, I mean, it’s better for them to talk about it than not, isn’t that how it is in life?’
The former Sunrise host then subtly criticized Natalie for mentioning her in an interview after she decided to take a step back from the TV industry.
She said: “I thought everyone would forget about me when I was on my little gap year, but it doesn’t seem like that, you know?”
—Look, the truth is that nothing interesting is happening there. “I’m just doing my thing on the field,” she added.