Tony Armstrong bid farewell to his network Friday morning while hosting his final show on ABC News Breakfast.
The TV star, widely regarded as the public broadcaster’s golden boy, announced last week that he would be stepping down from his role after three years.
But his time at ABC was somewhat marred this week, when Armstrong came under fire on his own network for doing voiceovers for insurance company NRMA while working on the show.
Janine Perrett exposed Armstrong’s concert on Media Watch on Monday night.
During his final show on Friday, his castmates presented him with flowers and a large can of coffee before Armstrong joked that he wouldn’t name the brand of coffee.
‘We won’t name the brand… Actually, I don’t care, Media Watch has already done it for me: Nescafé!’ Armstrong joked.
Early in the show, Armstrong said his time at ABC had been a “whirlwind” before admitting it had been a “fun old week.”
‘Mixed feelings. You can tell by my body language, I don’t like to talk too much about myself, despite having a career in which I am in front of a camera,” he said when saying goodbye to the viewers.
Tony Armstrong bid farewell to ABC on Friday morning as he hosted his final show on ABC News Breakfast.
“It has been a whirlwind three years. Believe it or not, I was nervous when I started.
‘It didn’t last long. But yeah, that wasn’t that long ago. And yes, News Breakfast has given me everything, really. It’s given me… It’s given me a joy ride!’
“I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in today to be able to go out on my own terms and deal with whatever comes next,” Armstrong added.
‘I really don’t know exactly what it is yet… I’m so grateful to everyone watching and everyone who said such nice things to me throughout this particular week.
‘It’s been a fun old week. But yeah, people have been very, very kind to me.”
Armstrong finished by saying that he was going to miss his ‘News Breakfast family’.
The star came under fire from ABC earlier this week with the network’s Media Watch show exposing that he had been doing voiceovers for an insurance company while working on its News Breakfast show.
During his last show, Armstrong’s castmates gave him flowers and a large can of coffee before Armstrong joked that he wouldn’t name the brand of coffee.
Media critic Perrett revealed Monday that Armstrong, 34, has been working as the voice of NRMA’s insurance ads since July.
Perrett, a fill-in presenter for Media Watch, said it was “surprising” that Armstrong had not obtained the station’s approval before landing the new job.
“It’s a shame we’re talking about this moonlighting at the expense of the ABC’s integrity in its final week on News Breakfast,” Perrett said.
“Tony is arguably one of ABC’s biggest stars,” he added.
‘Not only is he on the breakfast couch, but he also appears on a new sports show in the evening. He is one of many featured in ABC News promotions and is the face of a new five-part series.
“So we were stunned when we received confirmation that Tony was also selling an insurance company.”
Armstrong also said his time with ABC has been a “whirlwind” before admitting it had been a “fun old week.”
The ABC Editorial Policy states that any outside work undertaken by a high-profile presenter is not prohibited, but is considered “very high risk”.
The ABC told Media Watch that their voice-over work was done without their knowledge and was due to a “misunderstanding with Tony’s outside representation.”
‘They have been provided with a copy of the external working guidelines and reminded that all ABC employees must comply with them. “Tony is a very valued employee and has the full support of ABC,” the station said.
Perrett, stunned, replied: “A misunderstanding?”
‘How an ABC journalist could voice a commercial for one of Australia’s biggest brands and not think that’s a conflict is beyond us.
“If this isn’t a violation of outside work guidelines, which require higher-level approval, we don’t know what is.”
Media Watch said Armstrong did not respond to its request for comment.
Armstrong was criticized by ABC on Monday on the network’s Media Watch show, alleging that he had been doing voiceovers for an insurance company while working on its News Breakfast show.
The segment sparked fierce debate Tuesday morning, even as Armstrong remained silent and did not say a word about the criticism on his own television show.
KIIS FM radio presenters Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson defended Armstrong’s decision to work an extra gig while at ABC.
‘Who cares? What is your mantra? Work here and don’t make money anywhere else,” Jackie said on KIIS FM’s The Kyle and Jackie O show.
Kyle agreed, adding, “Yeah, it’ll be a forever rag that no one sees on TV… it’s such a miserable joint to work out with.”
Armstrong sparked an outpouring of well wishes from his colleagues when he announced his departure last week.
In a heartfelt statement, he said he hoped to return to his show as a guest.
“I’ve been pretty nervous about doing this,” Tony confirmed.
Media critic Perrett revealed that Armstrong has been working as the voice of NRMA insurance ads since July. He said it was “surprising” that Armstrong had not obtained approval from the station before landing the new gig.
‘I have retired from News Brekkie and my last day will be October 4.
“I just want to thank absolutely everyone: all of you, my colleagues, everyone behind the camera, all the producers, all the people who also watch and go out and say good morning and all that kind of stuff.” ”, he continued.
“Um, yeah, it’s been kind of a whirlwind three-plus years, a lot has happened, it feels like I’ve been on a rocket, but the support I’ve gotten from News Brekkie AND the news in general has been incredible.
“Thank you so much, I’m going to miss the couch. I’m not going to miss the alarm, but I’m going to miss the couch. I had a great time.”