Sunrise host David Koch shares advice for his replacement 

David Koch shared some advice for this successor, after revealing he’s leaving Sunrise after 21 years as a co-host.

“You can’t pretend to be someone you’re not because the viewers will see through you,” said the 67-year-old. The Daily Telegraph.

‘Breakfast TV strips you naked, you can’t bulls**t. You just have to be who you are because they’ll smell it in the blink of an eye.

David added that fans of the show might see the new host as an “ad***head,” but “That’s the joy of viewers, they really let you know.”

The celebrated television presenter made similar comments to Daily Mail Australia earlier today.

Koch didn’t anoint his replacement host at Sunrise, but had plenty of advice for anyone taking on the role, which he calls a lifestyle as much as a job.

“I don’t have a personal choice,” Koch told the Daily Mail Australia of his successor after announcing his retirement from the televised breakfast show.

“But there are some great next-generation hosts coming through.

“My biggest piece of advice is just be yourself. Three and three-quarter hours of live television a day exposes you as a human being.

“Viewers know you intimately. If you pretend to be someone you’re not, they’ll know and it’ll haunt you.”

Among those tipped to take Koch’s position at Sunrise is retired Olympic sprinter and regular substitute Matt Shirvington, but Koch would not single out any candidate.

Koch said he had considered leaving the program at the end of last year, but decided to delay his exit after talking to his “incredibly supportive” bosses at Seven.

Network executives had told Koch that he had earned the right to do whatever he wanted, but asked him to stay on for another six months to put a new host’s transition to bed.

They had also asked Koch to “keep a connection” to the network for the next 18 months.

‘Why now? It just feels right,” Koch said of quitting. “Almost 21 years, almost 16,000 hours of live TV, that’s a damn long time.”

Koch would spend more time working on his business interests, including the Ausbiz funding streaming platform which he said was expanding abroad and “seam to me.”

“Basically I want to work office hours and I have a big family that has really supported me for a long time, so it’s a time to live a more normal life,” he said.

Sunrise is the best job in the world, but it’s also a lifestyle. It’s not just a job. It completely takes over your life and I just want a little more flexibility.”

Koch said whoever took his seat could expect criticism, but the fastest path to failure would be to pretend to be someone he isn’t.

“There are a lot of people who have an opinion,” he said. “Lots of people telling you what to think, what to do, the whole lot.

“You are just yourself and people will respect that.

“They may disagree with you from time to time about what you say and your opinion, but they will respect you because you have your own opinion and believe in your own opinion and you should never lose sight of that.

“There’s no other timeslot you know better… and you just can’t fake it.”

Koch attributed much of Sunrise’s continued success to the quality of its competitors – Today on the Nine Network and the ABC’s News Breakfast.

“In this country, all three breakfast TV shows, compared to the rest of the world, are really top-notch,” he said. “It’s been very competitive and we’ve gotten better and better as a result.

“The only reason we’ve won 20 consecutive years of ratings is because the competition has kept us fair.”

Koch said he had received hundreds of messages since announcing his departure, but had not seen any from Today host and longtime rival Karl Stefanonovic.

“I haven’t heard from Karlos yet,” he said. “I don’t expect it, but I’ve always had a lot of respect.”

Former co-host Melissa Doyle had messaged, but Koch didn’t know if his former on-air partner Samantha Armytage had reached out.

Current co-host Natalie Barr told Koch this morning, “The show wouldn’t be what it is today without you. It was a great ride and we will be celebrating for the next two weeks.”

Koch joined Sunrise in 2002 to present financial reports and in October of that year became Chris Reason’s replacement when the journalist was diagnosed with cancer.

Not much was initially expected of Koch’s pairing with Doyle in the face of Today’s dominance.

“Remember, when we started this, it was before Facebook,” Koch said. “We were I think five percent of the Today show audience at the time.

‘No one looked at it. Nobody cared about us. Seven executives didn’t care about us.

‘We started in a demountable office in the parking lot at the studios in Epping. No one tossed.

“And that was the secret for us because we were just very quietly able to try different things, make mistakes and build a really loyal audience for which I will be eternally grateful.”

Koch was proud to go out as the winner, with Sunrise still dominant.

“Everyone wants to do the best and have the best product possible,” he said. “And I leave this job with tremendous pride and gratitude for being part of it.”

Koch, who has four children with wife Libby and is president of AFL club Port Adelaide, will leave the program on June 9.