Samantha Armytage on life after Sunrise and the time she went ‘on air drunk’

In her latest podcast episode, Samantha Armytage says she once went on air ‘drunk’ and revealed more about how she feels after leaving Sunrise.

Former Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage has revealed she was once “on air drunk”.

“I mean, hello, we’ve all be on air drunk,” the TV journalist said, in the latest episode of her podcast, Something To Talk About.

“I was sneaky, I didn’t get written up in the papers – nobody knew.”

Armytage made the admission during her interview with former Today rival Karl Stefanovic, who infamously conducted a broadcast while intoxicated after the Logies.

“Thank you, finally an admission! Karl gets awful admission out of Sam, ‘I was drunk too! Nobody noticed,’” Stefanovic said in response.

Meantime, Armytage – who left Sunrise in March last year – opened up about life after breakfast TV.

“When I stepped away from it, and a whole world opens up … it is a bubble,” Armytage said. When asked if she missed being on the small screen, she added: “It was a relief at the beginning. Not ‘it’, but I have missed having a voice”.

“Being able to sit on air and say what I think on air, which probably would have got me into trouble in this cancel culture.

“I don’t miss the job but I do miss having a say. And then I think, it’s been quite a nice time to lay low. It has been absolutely punishing, the last couple of years, for everyone.”

Armytage said a former colleague at Seven had called her the “only person on television I know who doesn’t want to be on television”.

Samantha Armytage has opened up about the pressures she faced as the host of Sunrise – and how she feels now. Picture: David Swift

“They used to say to me, ‘do you want to check (the) shot before the show starts? You’re given a shot so you can see what your hair looks like and I’d go, ‘nup – it’s fine,” Armytage said on her podcast.

“It was just never important to me.”

Armytage also revealed the toll constant scrutiny over her private life had taken on her, which she likened to getting “belted for no reason, other than I had been given a job”.

“I don’t know how to cope with this,” Armytage said, of that time in her life.

Armytage said her “school mates” had kept her ego in check. “They still say to me, ‘you’re just not that interesting!’ Why is everyone interested in you?’”

Since leaving Sunrise, Armytage said she was “in a good place in life”.

“I love being married, I love the sort of security that that (marriage) brings. I’m focused on family, I’ve gone back to what’s important,” she said.

As for a return to TV, Armytage simply said: “But I’ll be back”.

Originally published as Samantha Armytage on life after Sunrise and the time she went ‘on air drunk’