Newsreader Edwina Bartholomew farewells ‘big sister’ Sam Armytage as she departs Sunrise after eight years
Sam Armytage just finished her last day at Channel Seven’s Sunrise.
And newsreader Edwina Bartholomew shared a tribute to her friend and colleague on Thursday as she heads off into early retirement.
Edwina, 37, wrote on Instagram: ‘She will be missed on air but she leaves Sunrise with all of our love and best wishes. Go well. Sleep well.’
Support: Newsreader Edwina Bartholomew has farewelled her ‘big sister’ Sam Armytage as she departs Channel Seven’s Sunrise after eight years
‘Thanks for your friendship (and all the clothes I stole from your wardrobe over the years). You have been like a big sister to me and I know the next chapter will be even better than the last,’ she added.
Edwina then told her 204,000 Instagram followers she’d recently visited Sam at her home, where she seemed genuinely happy for the first time in a long time.
‘A few weeks back I popped in to see @sam_armytage and her husband, Rich, at home,’ she said.
Happy at home: ‘A few weeks back I popped in to see @sam_armytage and her husband, Rich at home… Sam was so incredibly happy she was just so incredibly content with life,’ Edwina, 37, wrote
‘We ate BBQ chook while Molly [Edwina’s daughter] fed Banjo scotch finger biscuits on the floor. Sam was so incredibly happy – not about the biscuits, Banjo’s on a diet – she was just so incredibly content with life.
‘After a turbulent year and the loss of her beautiful Mum, it was just so wonderful to see.’
Sam’s last day on Sunrise was Thursday, but her $800,000-a-year contract with Seven doesn’t expire until October.
Farewell Sam: On Thursday’s episode of Sunrise, the TV presenter broke down in tears as she filmed her final show
She had tearfully announced her resignation live on Monday’s show.
‘The time has come for the sun to set on my time at Sunrise. I have always been brave and fearless in my career and this decision is no different,’ she said.
She explained she was leaving of her own choosing, and was looking forward to life away from the spotlight after a ‘bittersweet’ year that included the death of her mother, Libby, and her marriage to businessman Richard Lavender, 61.
Emotional: ‘The time has come for the sun to set on my time at Sunrise. I have always been brave and fearless in my career and this decision is no different,’ she said
Emotional: Sam tearfully announced her departure from Sunrise live on Monday’s show
‘I want to step out of this public world for a while and take some time and calm things down, enjoy a bit of slow living, and spend some time with my precious family, my husband and [dog] Banjo,’ she said.
‘I go out of this job at a time of my own choosing and on top of the ratings, which not many people on television can say they do.
‘I’m extremely proud of my almost eight years at the helm of Sunrise, my seven years before that at Weekend Sunrise, and my almost 18 years with the Seven Network.’
Marital bliss: Her announcement followed months of rumours she was preparing to leave Sunrise in order to spend more time with her husband, Richard Lavender, at his country estate