When Samantha Armytage bid her final farewells to Sunrise, the presenter celebrated in style.
Not only was champagne flowing around the office, the presenter took her friends and colleagues out for an intimate lunch. However, noticeably missing from the get together was her former co-host David Koch.
WATCH: Samantha Armytage breaks down as she quits Sunrise
As a last hurrah for the morning host, Sam organised a farewell lunch at a restaurant called Catalina in Sydney’s Rose Bay.
Among the presenter’s luncheon guests were her husband Richard Lavender, Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell, Morning Show host Kylie Gillies, and more.
But one familiar face was missing…. her longtime co-host David “Kochie” Koch was not in attendance. And he’s just revealed why.
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. Ouch.
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.”
Earlier this month, Sam Armytage confirmed she was leaving the Channel Seven show live on-air.
“The time has come for the sun to set on my time at Sunrise. I have always been brave and fearless in my career and this decision is no different,” she said.
“I want to take a break and find some peace and calm. I go out of this job at a time of my own choosing and on top of the ratings, which not many people on television can say they do,” she said.
With Sam gone, long-time newsreader Natalie Barr has taken the reigns. And she’s over the moon about the new opportunity.
“Sunrise has been my work family for 18 years and, while I’ve absolutely loved my role as newsreader, I’ve now been given the chance to move half a metre along the desk closer to Kochie and give something new a try,” Natalie said in a statement.
“I like to think of it as, same same but different. I can’t wait!”
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