Sunrise host Natalie Barr spills on worst celebrity interview
Natalie Barr has opened up about her best and worst celebrity interviews, saying a well-known comedian had “bad vibes”.
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Sunrise host Natalie Barr has opened up about her best and worst celebrity interviews, as she celebrates one year in the hosting seat of the top-rated breakfast show.
Speaking on news.com.au’s I’ve Got News for Youpodcast, Barr singled out Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg as a “great guy” but said that comedian Amy Schumer was a difficult interviewee.
“I don’t think Amy Schumer liked me,” Barr told podcast host Andrew Bucklow. “It was a really bad vibe when I walked in. She didn’t like any of my questions. She was really short with answers.
“Since then I have found out from her people … she wasn’t in a great place when she was doing that tour of Australia. You don’t know what people are going through.”
Barr said she had a much better experience with Mark Wahlberg, even though their interview got off to a rocky start.
“I sat down, and he seemed really a little on the grumpy side and he seemed like he had been sick or something,” Barr said. “And I said, ‘Are you okay? You don’t look very well.’
“I don’t know what possessed me to say that to him,” Barr laughed.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Oh, well, that’s a really nice way to start the interview.’ And I thought, oh, no. And he laughed and said, ‘I’ve got a cold. Thanks for telling me I look like crap.’
“From that moment on, he was really nice and friendly,” Barr said. “It just sort of broke the ice.”
Barr raved about The Departed star, saying: “I think he’s a great guy ... he was really warm.”
Barr also talked about the challenges of the Sunrise hosting role which she took on 12 months ago following the resignation of Sam Armytage.
“You’re really interviewing all sorts of different people within seconds of each other, because you literally do chop and change for four hours straight, from the person who’s just found a crocodile in their backyard, to the Prime Minister, or an epidemiologist, or the Opposition leader, or a family who’s lost someone to Covid, or a car accident, or just a million other things,” she said.
“You’ve got to be in the moment and give every single guest the time that they deserve – to tell their story within a few questions.”
Barr also opened up about the gruelling start time for breakfast TV, telling I’ve Got News For You that she gets up at 2.45am each day.
“Some people get stuck on that, but they forget that I go to bed at 7.30pm,” Barr laughed. “So yeah, I get enough sleep.”
Barr spoke to news.com.au last week before she flew to LA to cover the Oscars red carpet.
Sunrise airs on Channel 7 from 5.30am weekdays
Originally published as Sunrise host Natalie Barr spills on worst celebrity interview
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