Samantha Armytage is a country girl at heart. For two decades, when she appeared on TV all glammed up, including as the co-host of Sunrise, she was wishing “every day” that she was in jeans and gumboots on a farm somewhere.
“But I used to pull on my jeans and gumboots on the weekends and get stuck into my garden,” she tells TV WEEK. “It’s very important for my happiness to get my hands into the dirt.”
Now living in the NSW Southern Highlands with her husband of almost two years, Richard Lavender, Sam has plenty of opportunities to get her hands into the dirt.
With Richard being an equestrian businessman, Sam says it’s “always busy” at their 40-hectare property.
Having left Sunrise in March last year, Sam is now back on our screens in the latest season of Farmer Wants A Wife.
(Image: TV WEEK)
“We have horses and there’s always something going on,” she says. “I drive the bobcat and the tractor, and I’m happy to use the chainsaw, but I won’t drive the bulldozer – it’s too big and scary.”
Having left Sunrise in March last year to spend more time with family, Sam, 46, is now back on our screens in the latest season of Farmer Wants A Wife. The series is a perfect fit for her.
“The show is basically my life – moving to the country for love,” she says. “I was thrilled to be asked and I had a bit of spare time and thought, ‘Why not?'”
Sam popped up during the speed date phase of the show, giving the girls the opportunity to ask her questions about what it would be like to marry a farmer.
Sam’s childhood home was a 16,000-acre sheep and cattle property near Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains of NSW.
(Image: Getty)They wanted to know if it would be lonely (“You must love the land and be a somewhat self-contained person,” Sam advised them) to whether the internet works (“It doesn’t consistently!”)
“One girl wanted to know what the difference between a lamb and a sheep was, which I thought was rather amusing.”
But her main role on the show this season is to find each farmer two new possible wives – or new possible husbands, in the case of Farmer Paige.
“I got to go through the many, many applications and decide who might work best with whom,” she explains. “And let me tell you, it can be quite daunting to match-make!”
Of course, Sam knew what she was getting into when she married her farmer. Her childhood home was a 16,000-acre sheep and cattle property near Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains of NSW, where her father worked as station manager.
“Our summers were spent swimming in the Murrumbidgee and riding horses, and our winters were spent snow skiing,” she remembers.
“It was an idyllic, happy childhood… although we had brown and tiger snakes down there. Now they are scary.”
Sam went to boarding school in Sydney and then on to university before getting her first TV job in Canberra. It didn’t take long for her talent to be spotted, and she became a newsreader for Channel Seven before being asked to co-host Weekend Sunrise and then Sunrise.
In her time on Sunrise, Sam often became the news, whether it was for controversial comments she made on the show or simply for walking down the street wearing casual clothes.
“I don’t miss the hours and I don’t miss the attention,” Sam says of her Sunrise exit.
(Image: Instagram)There’s plenty she doesn’t miss about being a breakfast TV host.
“I don’t miss the hours and I don’t miss the attention,” she admits.
Despite Sam being one of Australia’s most recognisable celebrities, there was at least one person who had no idea who she was in 2019: her future husband Richard. When he met her at a friend’s birthday party, his only thought was, “That’s my girl.”
“I instantly knew Rich was grounded and an earthy type,” Sam remembers. “I liked that he had no idea who I was, and I liked his blue eyes.”
Having been previously linked to a number of high-profile men, including newsreader Michael Usher, hotelier Peter De Angelis and jet tycoon Paul O’Brien, Sam says Richard is “very much” different from other guys she’s dated.
“That’s why I married him!” she adds with a laugh.
Sam and Richard’s wedding took place on New Year’s Eve 2019 at Richard’s property in the Southern Highlands.
(Image: Instagram)Sam and Richard’s wedding took place on New Year’s Eve 2019 at Richard’s property in the Southern Highlands, with just a small group of family and friends attending.
A little over a year later, Sam quit Sunrise for a life on the land. She says she’s glad to be away from the traffic.
“And it’s nice not to be able to see your nearest neighbour,” she adds.
As for the future, Sam wants to be able to continue to live life at a “gentler” pace, be happy with what she’s got and have good health.
“I’d love it if one of our racehorses could be the next Winx,” she laughs, “and I’d like to write a sitcom. All in all, I want a productive, peaceful life – which I’ve cultivated. Lucky me.”
