Samantha Armytage

Samantha Armytage (born 4 September 1976)[2] is an Australian journalist and television presenter.

Samantha Armytage
Samantha Armytage
Born (1976-09-04) 4 September 1976
Bolaro Station, Adaminaby, New South Wales, Australia
Education
OccupationJournalist and TV presenter
Years active1999−present
EmployerSeven Network
Notable credit(s)
Seven 4.30 News presenter
(2006–2012)
Weekend Sunrise co-host (2007–2013)
Sunrise co-host (2013–present)
Spouse(s)Richard Lavender (m. 2020)
Como, the home of Armytage's ancestor Charles Armytage

Armytage became a co-host of Sunrise alongside David Koch in 2013. She has previously co-hosted Weekend Sunrise and presented Seven 4.30 News.

Early life

Armytage was born to Mac and Elizabeth Armytage.[2] She grew up on Bolaro Station, a sheep property near Adaminaby in New South Wales, where her father was the station manager.[3] Armytage is a direct descendant of George Armytage, a pioneer British settler in Australia who was involved in several massacres of local Aboriginal people.[4] She has a younger brother, Charlie.[5]

She attended boarding school at Kincoppal-Rose Bay in Sydney starting from Year Nine and then studied at Charles Sturt University.[2][3]

Career

Armytage began her media career at WIN Television in Canberra in 1999, as a news reporter and presenter in Canberra.[6] Following this she joined Sky News Australia in 2002 where she was chief political reporter.

In 2003, Armytage joined the Seven Network after being noticed by the network executives while covering the 2003 Canberra Bushfires.

In December 2004, Armytage landed her first major presenting role, filling-in as presenter on Seven News Sydney over the Summer non-ratings period. Following the non-ratings period she had stints presenting Seven Morning News, the national late news updates, and filling in as presenter of Seven News Sydney. Throughout 2005 and 2006, Armytage was a regular fill-in presenter for Chris Bath on Seven News Sydney.

In October 2006, Armytage replaced Mike Amor as presenter of Seven 4.30 News. She had replaced Rebecca Maddern as presenter when the network moved production from Melbourne to Sydney.

In June 2007, Armytage was appointed co-host of Weekend Sunrise alongside Andrew O'Keefe, replacing Lisa Wilkinson who moved to Today on the Nine Network.

In 2011, Armytage was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and continued to file reports for Sunday Night, while also being a regular fill-in presenter on Sunrise, Today Tonight and The Morning Show.

In June 2013, Armytage was announced as the replacement for Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle; she began her position that September.[7]

In 2014, Armytage presented the makeover reality show Bringing Sexy Back, which was cancelled after one season due to low ratings.

In 2017, Armytage joined News Corp Australia lifestyle magazine Stellar as a columnist.[8]

Controversy

In March 2015, Armytage was accused of racism in an on-air interview, after congratulating a woman for looking whiter than her twin. After an online petition was signed by over 2,000 people calling for her to apologise, she did so.[9]

In February 2016, a Sex and The City themed skit on Sunrise with actress Kristen Davis backfired on Armytage. Davis had appeared on the show to discuss her work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, but later on Twitter expressed her annoyance that Sunrise focused on her role in Sex and The City. After the incident, Armytage, who was meant to MC and conduct an interview with Davis at a UN event in Sydney, was asked not to host or attend the event.[10][11]

In March 2018, Armytage hosted a segment on Sunrise focusing on Aboriginal adoption, during which she incorrectly claimed that Aboriginal children could not be fostered by White people and stated that "Post-Stolen Generation, there's been a huge move to leave Aboriginal children where they are, even if they're being neglected in their own families." Protests were held outside the Sunrise studio in Martin Place in response to the segment.[12][13] In September 2018, the Australian Communications and Media Authority ruled that the segment had breached the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice, as it contained inaccurate statements and "strong negative generalisations about Indigenous people as a group".[14] In June 2020, Armytage was sued for racial vilification over the segment.[15]

Personal life

In June 2020, Armytage announced her engagement to partner, Richard Lavender.[16] The two got married in a private ceremony in the Southern Highlands on 31 December 2020.[5] Armytage became a stepmother to Lavender's two daughters from his previous marriage.[17]

References
  1. "Sunrise host Samantha Armytage talks body image, backstabbing and dating". NewsComAu. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  2. "Sam Armytage engaged: who is her fiancé Richard Lavender?". au.news.yahoo.com. 23 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. Doherty, Megan. "Sunny side of life for Armytage". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. "Everything you need to know about Samantha Armytage". Yahoo!. 2 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 June 2020.
  5. Sutton, Candace (31 December 2020). "TV host shares wedding snap of New Year's Eve nuptials". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. Samantha Armytage - Weekend Sunrise co-host (Seven Network, retrieved 25 July 2013)
  7. Queensland viewers warm to new Sunrise team of David Koch and Samantha Armytage by Geoff Shearer (The Courier-Mail, 11 July 2013)
  8. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Flifestyle%2Fstellar%2Fsam-armytage-i-have-an-announcement-to-make
  9. Salemme, Nadia (28 April 2015). "Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage accused of racism in on-air interview with UK twins". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018.
  10. "Armytage axed from hosting gig". NewsComAu. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  11. "Samantha Armytage replaced as host of UNHCR lunch with Kristin Davis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  12. Davidson, Helen (16 March 2018). "Sunrise hides Indigenous protest outside studio with stock footage". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
  13. Schipp, Debbie (16 March 2018). "The protest Sunrise didn't want you to see". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 March 2018.
  14. "Channel Seven in breach for Sunrise segment on Indigenous children". Australian Communications and Media Authority. 4 September 2018.
  15. Wolfe, Natalie (11 June 2020). "Channel 7, Sam Armytage and Prue MacSween sued for racial vilification". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020.
  16. Turner-Cohen, Alex (21 June 2020). "Armytage announces engagement with diamond ring". News.com.au. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  17. Sanders, Krystal; Hoffman, Lily (6 October 2020). "Lavender and Lace for Sam". The West Australian.

Sources
Media offices
Preceded by
Melissa Doyle		 Sunrise
Co-host with David Koch
August 2013 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Natalie Barr (Fridays from January 2021)
Preceded by
Lisa Wilkinson		 Weekend Sunrise
Co-host with Andrew O'Keefe
24 June 2007 – 11 August 2013		 Succeeded by
Monique Wright
Preceded by
Mike Amor		 Seven 4.30 News
Monday - Wednesday presenter
October 2006 – December 2012		 Succeeded by
Rebecca Maddern
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