Is Sam Armytage’s new podcast her Sunrise exit plan? Channel Seven star’s interview series sparks rumours she’s ready to retire from breakfast TV
Rumours are swirling Sam Armytage is looking to part ways with Channel Seven once she reaches the end of her contract.
And the 44-year-old has done little to silence the speculation after launching of her new podcast, Something to Talk About, in partnership with Stellar magazine.
Sam released the first episode this week, which saw her take a deep dive with actor Hugh Sheridan and discuss his personal and professional struggles.
Exit plan? Sunrise host Samantha Armytage, 44, (pictured) has launched a new podcast amid on Monday, amid speculation she will soon leave the highly-rated breakfast show
‘Hello and welcome to the first episode of Something to Talk About with me, Samantha Armytage,’ she said at the start of the program.
‘In this podcast, I will be having those difficult, inspiring, uncomfortable and uplifting conversations with people from all walks of life.
‘Some may be well known household names others you may never have heard of but either way we will be navigating those tricky discussions candidly and honestly.’
New project: The podcast is not aligned with Sunrise, but rather Sam’s Stellar Magazine column. Sam said she would be interviewing a range of people on the talking head program
The podcast is not associated with Sunrise or Channel Seven whatsoever, but is instead linked to Sam’s weekly column in Stellar magazine.
Stellar is published every weekend with News Corp’s Sunday newspapers.
There are rumours 2021 will be her last year hosting Sunrise, as she focuses on her family life with husband Richard Lavender, whom she married on New Year’s Ever.
Change of pace: The media personality said that she was ‘very happy’ in her job but could ‘easily’ see herself embracing country life ‘down the track’ back in January
Speaking to The Kyle and Jackie O Show last month, Sam said that while she was still under contract at Seven, she hadn’t ruled out giving up her TV career.
She told radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson she was ‘very happy’ in her job but could ‘easily’ see herself embracing country life ‘down the track’ in the Southern Highlands.
Jackie observed: ‘I get the feeling, Sam, that you’re going to give this up next contract or something.’
She then asked: ‘Do you ever see yourself doing that [retiring to the country]?’
Revelation: The podcast comes after Sam admitted on the Kyle and Jackie O Show that she has thought about retirement. Pictured with her Sunrise co-host David ‘Kochie’ Koch
Sam replied: ‘Oh yeah, I think down the track I could, easily.’
When asked if she would miss working in TV, Sam offered a thoughtful response.
‘I do wonder… there’s a lot of adrenaline in television. Anything that’s live there’s a lot of adrenaline. Sometimes I wonder… but by the same token you don’t want that adrenaline all the time,’ she said.
‘And you know, I’ve been a journo for 22 years. I’m very old.’
Veteran: ‘I do wonder… there’s a lot of adrenaline in television. Anything that’s live there’s a lot of adrenaline. Sometimes I wonder… but by the same token you don’t want that adrenaline all the time,’ she said, previously
In December, Sam furiously hit back at a report in a Nine-owned newspaper which claimed her position at Seven was ‘one of the biggest question marks of 2021’.
She denied she was leaving the network and accused the newspaper of doing a hatchet job on her because Sunrise had beaten Nine’s Today show in the ratings.
‘Good one, Channel Nine. If you can’t beat Sunrise in the ratings, invent a (bitchy) column for some Christmas “cheer”,’ she wrote on Instagram.
Married life: Sam married Bowral business Richard Lavender (both pictured) on New Year’s Eve at his estate in the Southern Highlands