Outgoing Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell – who is moving into a new Los Angeles-based role for the Seven network, told TV Tonight that Sam Armytage perhaps wasn’t suited to life in the spotlight.
Rather, Armytage happened to excel in a field “she maybe never really wanted to go into”, her friend and former colleague revealed.
Pell gave the candid new interview to TV Tonight and spoke of the highs and lows of his 11 years in one of morning TV’s top jobs and acknowledged that while he and Armytage developed a close friendship, they also fought “like cats and dogs, always about the creative process”.
The interview touched on Armytage’s well-documented struggles with the tabloid scrutiny that came with her job as one of Australian TV’s most recognisable faces.
During her final episode of Sunrise in March 2021, a tearful Armytage told viewers that she had “never fully understood some of the scrutiny and the snarkiness and the bullying from some aspects of the media”.
Pell told TV Tonight that Armytage became a “big clickbait target” during her time on Sunrise.
“She did really well in a field that maybe she never really wanted to go into,” he said.
“In some ways she’s the anti-TV presenter. She doesn’t even really love the idea of being in the limelight. She’s a country girl who likes a quiet life. But, this very busy life found her and she killed it.”
Sam quit Sunrise months after marrying businessman Richard Lavender and moving to the NSW Southern Highlands in 2020.
Image: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.