How Sam Armytage healed her rift with Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell: Former friends reunite for a farewell lunch after months of rumours they’d fallen out
When departing Sunrise host Sam Armytage and wunderkind executive producer Michael Pell held hands and posed for selfies at her farewell lunch on Thursday afternoon, they knew they were sending a powerful message to their critics.
For months there had been rumours the once-close friends had fallen out, and media insiders took notice when Sam did not mention Michael in her parting message to viewers earlier that morning – although she had mentioned him while announcing her resignation on Monday – and saw this as a sign relations were still frosty.
However, they shut down the gossip by cuddling up at Catalina Restaurant in Rose Bay, during a celebratory gathering with several high-profile Seven staffers.
But how did they heal their rift?
Friends again: Departing Sunrise host Sam Armytage appears to have healed her rift with the show’s executive producer, Michael Pell. Pictured at the races several years ago
Rumours of Sam and Michael’s falling out were no secret in media circles.
In fact, their supposed feud had been gossip fodder for The Sydney Morning Herald’s Private Sydney column for several months.
The column’s author, Andrew Hornery, maintained the Sunrise boss, 37, had become ‘increasingly frustrated’ with 44-year-old Sam’s ‘cavalier’ approach to her critics.
What feud? For months there had been rumours the once-close friends had fallen out, but Sam and Michael embraced at her farewell lunch in Rose Bay on Thursday afternoon
He also reported in December that this worsening of relations was a telling sign Sam would soon depart Sunrise – a prediction soon proved correct, even though Sam publicly denied it at the time.
Before their rift, Sam and Michael had been close friends for years.
They would hang out socially, attend the races arm in arm, and pop up on each other’s social media accounts.
Scrutiny: Rumours of their falling out were no secret in media circles. Their supposed feud had been gossip fodder for The Sydney Morning Herald’s Private Sydney column for months. Michael is pictured on Sunrise in November with hosts Sam and David ‘Kochie’ Koch (right)
Their close bond was unsurprising: Michael was the man who hired Sam to host Sunrise – Australia’s number-one breakfast show – and was also one of her most staunch defenders against criticism in the press.
His defence of Sam on Twitter became more muted last year – perhaps because of their reported rift – but he was back to his old ways on Thursday when News.com.au suggested Sam had omitted him from her farewell speech.
He posted a selfie of the pair at Catalina and wrote, ‘Hey @newscomauHQ… lunch going well. Feud not so much.’
Sam and Michael will likely never acknowledge their rift, but it seems her departure from Sunrise after eight years has allowed them to put their differences aside.
In a telling sign they’ve let bygones be bygones, industry website TV Blackbox reported on Thursday that Sam was ‘upset’ by the suggestion she had ‘snubbed’ the man who put her in the hosting role back in 2013.
Michael’s Twitter clapback at News.com.au shows he felt the same way.
While it seems more likely than not there was a breach in their friendship sometime last year, there’s no doubt Michel and Sam achieved remarkable things together on Sunrise – which is still the country’s most-watched breakfast show.
As Sam rides off into the Southern Highlands sunset with her new husband, Richard Lavender, she and Michael will almost certainly be remembering the good times over the bad.