Samantha Armytage has announced she is leaving Channel Seven after 21 years when her contract expires in October, but that doesn’t mean she’s giving up on her TV career altogether.
New Idea hears that Sam has every intention of continuing to work in television and is, in fact, aggressively pitching new projects to rival networks.
“Sam has a few ideas she’s been working on, that she’s really excited about,” a source tells New Idea.
“However with all the budget cuts going at Nine and Ten, I doubt they’ll be able to afford her, no matter how great her concepts are. It’s a tough climate out there.”
A second TV insider jokes that Sam, 47, could possibly take Lisa Millar’s job on ABC News Breakfast. She exits her seat later this month, with her replacement yet to be announced.
“Sam does have that morning TV experience after all,” the insider says with a big laugh.
During her tenure with Seven, Sam has hosted everything from 7NEWS to Weekend Sunrise, Sunrise and, most recently, Farmer Wants A Wife. She took over that hosting role just last year.
Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Sam described her decision to end her association with Seven as “sad and bittersweet.”
“I’m big on instinct,” she explained.
“I know when the time comes. I am proud of the fact that I back myself enough to say: ‘I’ve done what I can do here’ and I move on. I look back on my time very fondly.”
Rather pointedly, Sam added: “This is not the end. It’s just the end of this chapter.”
Of course, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the polarising star.
Rumours of a feud with Natalie Barr have abounded for years, with Sam said to have been bitter that her rival swooped in and took her job when she left Sunrise in 2021.
Sam only exacerbated things by telling Stellar following her departure: “[TV’s full of sociopaths and narcissists. I can be a dangerous environment let me tell you.”
In 2022, Sam joined Farmer Wants A Wife as a special guest host alongside the long-time face of the show Natalie Gruzlewski.
But by the following year, Natalie found herself sidelined to co-host status, replaced by Sam to the fury of many fans.
Now that Sam won’t be around for the show’s upcoming 2025 season, some of those loyal viewers took to their social media to share their delight about Nat, also 47, returning to her former job.
“I wish Sam all the best, but Farmer Wants A Wife…It’s always been Natalie’s show. Now it just needs to go back on Channel Nine,” wrote one passionate fan.
“I prefer Nat,” penned another.
