Samantha Armytage makes a shock return to Sunrise… keeping an awkward distance from ‘rival’ Natalie Barr
Samantha Armytage made a surprise return to the Sunrise studio on Friday morning after leaving the program three years ago.
Tensions became apparent as the former breakfast television presenter, who left Sunrise in 2021, sat opposite co-presenters Matt Shirvington and her rival successor Natalie Barr to plug the upcoming Channel Seven series of Famer Wants A Wife.
Armytage, 47, sat next to Barr, 56, but kept a few feet away for the sit-down interview with this season’s celebrities, Bert and Dustin.
The pair appeared to exchange a number of awkward glances at each other as Barr and Shirvington welcomed her back to the show.
“Samantha Armytage, back on the bench,” Barr said.
Samantha Armytage (pictured) made a surprise return to the Sunrise studio on Friday morning after leaving the program three years ago
‘Hi! Back on the bench… Thanks, it’s good to be back,” Armytage joked.
Even fans noticed the star’s behavior and reported it on social media.
“She looks SO happy to be there…” one user wrote sarcastically on the forum Media spy.
It’s Armtage’s first appearance on Sunrise as part of the publicity tour for FWAW, when she famously snubbed 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 the interview on Friday, Armytage, a real-life farmer who married horse breeder Richard Lavender in late 2020, raved about her life outside the Sunrise studio and her role as host of the matchmaking series.
Tensions were evident as the former breakfast television presenter, who left Sunrise in 2021, sat opposite co-presenters Matt Shirvington (right) and her rival successor Natalie Barr (left) to plug the upcoming Channel Seven series of Famer Wants A Wife.
Even fans noticed the star’s behavior, exclaiming on social media: “She looks SO happy to be there…” one user wrote sarcastically
‘It’s perfect. This show has been great for me. I’m really enjoying it and meeting these guys. It’s fantastic,” she said.
Armytage became Sunrise co-host alongside David ‘Kochie’ Koch in 2013, before leaving in 2021.
She was replaced by Barr, who will remain on the morning program at Shirvington after taking over Koch’s duties in 2023.
Armytage famously “upset” Barr with a snarky tweet after he left the show in March 2021.
‘Look, I’m gone. Nat always wanted the job… and she finally got it. She should just move on and enjoy it – and forget about me (even though I’m unforgettable),” she tweeted at the time.
Barr was reportedly “upset” by her predecessor’s hurtful tweet months after her 2021 departure, which suggested she was desperate for the top job.
The 56-year-old didn’t expect the former presenter to be so “snarky” after they worked together for years on Seven’s breakfast show, a source told New Idea at the time.
“No one was more shocked and saddened by Sam’s comments than Nat,” the insider claimed. ‘She is upset and has no idea why the snarkiness continues even though Sam is gone [from Sunrise] for months.’
Meanwhile, Barr previously revealed that she did not have a close relationship with Armytage.
When asked about the rumors that they weren’t close, Natalie told The Australian Women’s Weekly that the pair “got along well in the office” but rarely spoke after the cameras stopped rolling because they didn’t have much in common.
“The truth is, we haven’t really seen each other outside of the office,” Barr said.
“We had completely different lives, I think,” the mother of two added. ‘We were in different places. She was with her friends and I spent time with my family.
“So yeah, we were in different places.”
Armytage gave a very telling response following Barr’s statement during an appearance on The Kyle and Jackie O Show shortly afterwards.
Instead of addressing their icy relationship directly, she 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 brought up the subject, saying:[Natalie] did an interview where she said you weren’t that close because you didn’t have much in common and you didn’t really want to talk to each other when the cameras were off.”
Armytage (front left) became Sunrise co-host alongside David ‘Kochie’ Koch in 2013, before leaving in 2021. She was replaced by Barr (front right), who remains on the morning show alongside Shirvington after taking over Koch’s duties in 2023 .
Armytage famously “upset” Barr with a snarky tweet after he left the show in March 2021: “Look, I’m gone. Nat always wanted the job… and she finally got it. She should just move on and enjoy it – and forget about me (even though I’m unforgettable).”
After a moment of silence, Sam dodged the question by saying, “Yeah, well, look, I mean, it’s better to be talked about than not, right in life?”
The former Sunrise host then took a subtle swipe at Natalie for bringing her up in an interview after she decided to step back from the TV industry.
She said, “I thought everyone would forget about me when I was on my little sabbatical, but it seems like that’s not the case, you know?”
“Look, there’s honestly nothing interesting going on there. I’m just doing my thing, in the country,” she added.