Samantha Armytage tells Natalie Barr to ‘forget’ about her

The feud between Samantha Armytage and Natalie Barr intensified today with Armytage telling her Sunrise replacement to “forget” about her.

Samantha Armytage has told Natalie Barr to get on with hosting Sunrise and forget about her.

Armytage made the comment on social media after an interview with KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O this morning.

During the radio chat, Armytage was asked how she felt about Barr’s recent Women’s Weekly interview.

In that magazine interview, Barr addressed her relationship with Armytage, saying: “We got along very well in the office, for sure. But the truth is we didn’t really see each other outside the office. We had vastly different lives, I guess. We were in different places. She was hanging with her friends, and I was spending time with my family. So, yes, we were in different places.”

Mark Beretta, Natalie Barr, Sam Armytage and David Koch on the set of Sunrise. Picture: Tim Hunter

Barr also told Women’s Weekly how the Sunrise team felt about a comment Armytage made about TV being “full of sociopaths and narcissists”.

“I don’t think that the rest of us took much notice of that really,” Barr said. “You know, everyone is entitled to their opinion and entitled to have their say. But in the past, I have talked about the people in our office being like my family and I am genuinely close to a lot of people there. For me, it’s a wonderful place to be.”

This morning, Kyle and Jackie O asked Armytage about the Women’s Weekly interview and the ex-Sunrise host did her best to fob off the question.

“Yeah, well, look, I mean it’s better to be talked about than not, isn’t it, in this life,” Armytage said on air. “I thought everyone might forget about me when I was having my little TV sabbatical, but it seems they’re not.”

She added: “There’s nothing interesting going on there, honestly. I’m just doing my thing, out in the country.”

Samantha Armytage left Sunrise to live a quieter life in the country with husband Richard Lavender. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But things quickly escalated after Armytage’s radio interview.

The Kyle and Jackie O Twitter account posted the interview with the caption: “So was there beef on-set between @sam_armytage & @natalie_barr? Let’s ask Sam!”

Armytage then shared the interview to her Twitter account and added: “Look.. I’m out. Nat’s wanted the job, forever.. & she’s finally got it. She just needs to get on & enjoy it – & forget about me..(even though I’m unforgettable) #peaceout.”

Sam Armytage tells Nat Barr to get on with the job.

Armytage’s comment that Barr had “wanted the job forever” is at odds with what Barr has said in interviews since landing the Sunrise co-host role.

In March, Barr told Kyle and Jackie O that she was more than happy just being the newsreader on the Channel 7 show and had to be talked into accepting the hosting role by her husband.

“I’m just not that person (to host),” Barr said. “If Sam had wanted to stay there for another 10 years, that was fine with me.

“There was a call from the big boss who said, ‘How about it?’ I said, ‘Oh, OK, yeah right,’” Barr said on KIIS FM. “I was actually really nervous. I was so nervous that one of the bosses who called actually said, ‘Are you sure you want this?’”

Barr said she had no ambitions to become the show’s co-host but decided to take the job after a pep talk from her husband.

“He said, ‘If you sit there and say no and you’re listening to someone else do it, you’ll regret it’,” Barr said.

Originally published as Samantha Armytage tells Natalie Barr to ‘forget’ about her