Following earlier this week that she will be leaving Channel Seven after 21 years with the network, one of her former colleagues has reflected on their time working with the host. Sam, who is yet to announce her future career plans, was the co-anchor on the breakfast show alongside David ‘Kochie’ Koch from 2013 to 2021. While Sam’s announcement was met with plenty of well wishes from her former co-workers, including Nat Barr, Edwina Bartholomew and Kylie Gillies, ’s former digital and social media producer Alexandria Funnell has since opened up about a very “tense exchange” she once had with the TV star.
Alexandria revealed on her podcast this week that she once received a “stern email” from Sam which left her “mortified”. “There was a little bit of an incident that I had with Sam Armytage and it was really upsetting because all I wanted was for her to like me because she was so beautiful and funny and I just adored her,” she said on the podcast, which she co-hosts alongside former actress . Alexandria explained that Sam had done a “hilarious” interview with kindergarten kids on and she decided to schedule the story to go live on social media later in the evening so it was guaranteed to perform well thanks to the algorithm.
However, Sam thought that the interview had been “snubbed” and “buried” online and decided to confront Alexandra about it. “She sent me a stern email and CC’d all of my superiors - the supervising producer, the executive producer, my boss, everybody,” she detailed. “It was like, 'Hello, Alex.
I've noticed that the story on the kindergarten kids isn't live yet. Is there a reason for this? We work very hard for these stories, and to see that these stories aren't getting coverage online is incredibly disappointing. Can you please put it up ASAP?'.
" Alexandria, who has also previously worked behind the scenes on and , said that her “stomach dropped” when she saw the email. “I was mortified. Especially because I’m trying to impress her, I’m trying to do a good job at , I’m already at the edge of my tether because I’m exhausted all the time,” she said.
Eventually, after she wrote back explaining the situation and why she held the story, Sam “apologised” and they went on to have a great working relationship. “She’s one of those people that exudes charisma. Also, something that I think never really came across on screen on was how hilarious she was.
She was one of the funniest people in television, and people don’t know that about her,” she shared. “When people ask, ‘What’s Sam Armytage like?’, I’m like, ‘F**king hilarious’. So funny, but her humour is too crude or just not really breakfast TV-worthy.
” has contacted Sam for comment..
