Even after leaving the Sunrise couch, rumours of a feud between Samantha Armytage and her former colleagues continue to swirl. Now, the podcast host has had something to say.
WATCH: Sunrise Cast Reacts To Samantha Armytage And Sam Mac Feud
Reports of a rift between former morning show host Samantha, 39, and some of her Sunrise colleagues have hit the media sphere a few times.
The rumours of animosity between Sam and her Sunrise colleagues really hit fever pitch when she made a very telling remark about her job in an interview with Stellar.
“It’s full of sociopaths and narcissists – it can be a dangerous environment, let me tell you,” she revealed.
Adding fuel to the rumours is the fact that Sam doesn’t follow her former Sunrise co-hosts David ‘Kochie’ Koch and Natalie Barr on Instagram.
Appearing on her podcast Something To Talk About, radio star Kyle Sandilands asked Sam whether she unfollowed Kochie and Nat, to which she answered with: “I don’t think I unfo…” she stopped short, before adding: “I don’t think anyone’s following anyone in there.”
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Sam also revealed that she has not yet been in touch with her Sunrise co-workers since her departure from the show.
“It’s only been a few weeks so I’ve had a quiet time and haven’t spoken to anyone.”
David ‘Kochie’ Koch
It comes after Kochie and Natalie revealed they weren’t invited to Sam’s farewell party, which took place after her last day on Sunrise on March 11.
Appearing on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O show with new co-host Natalie Barr, Kochie was grilled as to why he and Nat didn’t attend the farewell soirée.
“Well, we didn’t know about it,” the presenter said bluntly.
Samantha and Kochie have publicly bumped heads on numerous occasions. Just last year the pair engaged in an on-air tiff regarding COVID-19.
After leading economist Warwick McKibbin said the pandemic had the potential to kill 21,000 Australians and 15 million globally, Kochie slammed the figures.
“What a crock that is, that is just ridiculous. An economist? An economist?” Kochie said to the panel including Sam, Nat Barr and Ryan Phelan.
“Alright, I’ve done the numbers, China has 1.4 billion people and they’ve had just over 3,000 deaths from the coronavirus and he’s telling us we’re going to get 96,000 deaths out of 25 million people?”
When Sam said she “didn’t believe the numbers coming out of China”, Kochie responded with an eye roll, saying “that is such a lame argument to back up a personal opinion.”
Sam Mac
Included in the reported feud was the program’s weatherman, Sam Mac, where it all started when a concerned Sunrise viewer sent Samantha an Instagram DM where she questioned the genuity of the co-stars’ relationship.
“When you cross to Sam Mac for weather, it comes across that you seem to dislike him with some comments,” the fan wrote.
Samantha, however, has since put those rumours to bed, where she shared a series of pictures promoting her former colleague’s latest book, Accidental Weatherman.
Meanwhile, Sam Mac recently spoke out about the revolving door that is morning television with Yahoo!, where he said that “shuffling” is just part of breakfast TV.
Sam then went on to speak about Samantha’s departure and how it has impacted the show.
“You know, I miss Sam (Armytage), I think Sam was wonderful on the show, and we’re friends and it’s a big loss. But at the same time, Nat can do the show and she has done the show so many times.
“She’s always been the news person and now she’s in the host seat and I think it’s breathed a little bit of freshness into the show as well.”
Natalie Barr
While both Sams are on friendly terms, other rumours of a rift between Samantha and her Sunrise replacement Natalie Barr began to simmer after the current host spoke with TV WEEK about her new role, with people claiming she was throwing some not-so-subtle shade at her predecessor.
Speaking with the publication, Natalie said: “Sam’s [Armytage] happy she’s not doing the hours and is happy living a quieter life, definitely.”
Natalie also took a subtle swipe at Sam, where she said that she’s aware there’ll be more attention on her than ever before, especially from the press, which is something Sam certainly didn’t enjoy.
“I think people get sick of people who work in TV complaining about the attention,” she said. “I’ve turned off all these notifications on my Twitter feed.
“I can block people in my DMs [direct messages]. Or I report them, as everyone does that in the modern world. I think you’ve got to take that attitude.”I’m sure people will write stuff I won’t like, or that’s incorrect. But people have worse lives. When they do [write things], I promise you I won’t complain.”
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