Sunrise: Sam Armytage offers a cold response to Natalie Barr’s ‘not friends’ claim

Sam Armytage offered a very telling response when questioned about rumours she didn’t get along with her Sunrise successor Natalie Barr.

During a live interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Monday, she momentarily froze when asked about Natalie’s claim they weren’t friends outside the workplace.

Instead of addressing their frosty relationship directly, the 44-year-old paraphrased Oscar Wilde’s famous quote, ‘There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.’

Having her say: Sam Armytage (pictured) offered a very telling response on Monday when questioned about rumours she didn’t get along with her Sunrise successor Natalie Barr

Radio host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson broached the subject, saying: ‘[Natalie] did an interview where she said you guys weren’t that close because you didn’t have a lot in common and that you wouldn’t really talk when the cameras were off.’

After a pause, Sam dodged the question by saying: ‘Yeah, well, look, I mean it’s better to be talked about than not, isn’t it in life?’

The former Sunrise host then took a subtle swipe at Natalie for bringing her up in an interview after she’d decided to take a step back from the TV industry.

She said: ‘I thought everyone might forget about me when I was having my little sabbatical, but it seems they’re not, you know?’

‘Look, there’s nothing interesting going on there, honestly. I’m just doing my thing, out in the country,’ she added. 

Caught off-guard: During a live interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, she momentarily froze when asked about Natalie's claim they weren't friends outside the workplace. Pictured from left: Sam, Natalie and Kylie Gillies in 2015

Caught off-guard: During a live interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, she momentarily froze when asked about Natalie’s claim they weren’t friends outside the workplace. Pictured from left: Sam, Natalie and Kylie Gillies in 2015

Ouch: Instead of addressing their frosty relationship directly, Sam said, 'Well, look, I mean it's better to be talked about than not, isn't it in life?' Pictured with her husband, Richard Lavender

Ouch: Instead of addressing their frosty relationship directly, Sam said, ‘Well, look, I mean it’s better to be talked about than not, isn’t it in life?’ Pictured with her husband, Richard Lavender

It comes after Natalie, 53, revealed for the first time she didn’t have a close relationship with her predecessor.

When asked about rumours the two women did not get along, Natalie told The Australian Women’s Weekly last week they weren’t friends outside the workplace.

The Sunrise anchor said that while the pair ‘got along well in the office’, they rarely spoke after the cameras stopped rolling because they didn’t have much in common.

Not friends: It comes after Natalie, 53, revealed for the first time she didn't have a close relationship with her predecessor. When asked about rumours the two women did not get along, Natalie said last week they weren't friends outside the workplace

Not friends: It comes after Natalie, 53, revealed for the first time she didn’t have a close relationship with her predecessor. When asked about rumours the two women did not get along, Natalie said last week they weren’t friends outside the workplace

‘The truth is we didn’t really see each other outside the office,’ Natalie said.

‘We had vastly different lives, I guess,’ the mother of two added. ‘We were in different places. She was hanging with her friends, and I was spending time with my family.

‘So, yes, were were in different places.’

Setting the record straight: 'The truth is we didn't really see each other outside the office,' Natalie told The Australian Women's Weekly

Setting the record straight: ‘The truth is we didn’t really see each other outside the office,’ Natalie told The Australian Women’s Weekly

Natalie’s interview came after she was reportedly rankled by comments Sam made in a newspaper column in February about working mothers in the TV industry.

Sam – who quit Sunrise in March, making way for Natalie to replace her – claimed she’d been assigned more work than her female colleagues in the past simply because she was unmarried and childless.

She said ‘bosses don’t ask as much of you if you’re a wife or mother’, adding: ‘I’ve never shied away from hard work, but there was an expectation that Sam would do it because she’s got nothing else going on.’

Dividing opinion: Natalie's interview came after she was reportedly rankled by comments Sam made in a newspaper column in February about working mothers in the TV industry

Dividing opinion: Natalie’s interview came after she was reportedly rankled by comments Sam made in a newspaper column in February about working mothers in the TV industry

At the time, many TV insiders wondered how Natalie would have reacted to this bold statement, given that she regularly picks up international assignments and fills in for colleagues at short notice, despite being married with two teenage children.

For months before her departure, rumours had swirled that Sam didn’t get along with Natalie, who was Sunrise’s newsreader before stepping up to the main desk.

Sources also claimed she didn’t see eye to eye with her co-anchor David ‘Kochie’ Koch either.

Controversy: Sam - who quit Sunrise in March, making way for Natalie to replace her - claimed she'd been assigned more work than her female colleagues in the past simply because she was unmarried and childless. Pictured: Sam with Sunrise co-anchor David 'Kochie' Koch

Controversy: Sam – who quit Sunrise in March, making way for Natalie to replace her – claimed she’d been assigned more work than her female colleagues in the past simply because she was unmarried and childless. Pictured: Sam with Sunrise co-anchor David ‘Kochie’ Koch

Working mum: At the time, TV insiders wondered how Natalie would have reacted to this bold statement, given that she regularly picks up international assignments and fills in for her colleagues, despite being married with kids. Pictured with her husband Andrew Thompson

Working mum: At the time, TV insiders wondered how Natalie would have reacted to this bold statement, given that she regularly picks up international assignments and fills in for her colleagues, despite being married with kids. Pictured with her husband Andrew Thompson

These whispers were seemingly confirmed when Natalie and Kochie didn’t attend Sam’s leaving party at the Catalina restaurant in Sydney’s Rose Bay on March 11. 

Eyebrows were raised yet again in May when it emerged Sam didn’t follow either of them on Instagram, despite following many other Seven colleagues.

Sam downplayed this snub on her News Corp podcast earlier this month, saying: ‘I don’t think I unfo… I don’t think anyone’s following anyone in there.’

Feud? It emerged in May that Sam didn't follow Natalie orKochie

Feud? It emerged in May that Sam didn’t follow Natalie or Kochie on Instagram, despite following many other Seven colleagues

 

'No users found': These screenshots from May show how Sam wasn't following Natalie or Kochie on Instagram. A search for their handles under her 'following' list yielded no results

‘No users found’: These screenshots from May show how Sam wasn’t following Natalie or Kochie on Instagram. A search for their handles under her ‘following’ list yielded no results

In-depth: Read Natalie's full interview in this month's Australian Women's Weekly, on sale now

In-depth: Read Natalie’s full interview in this month’s Australian Women’s Weekly, on sale now