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Kylie Gillies reveals truth about Sam Armytage's farewell lunch
The Morning Show's Kylie Gillies, 53, has set the record straight about why certain Sunrise stars were conspicuously absent at a farewell lunch for the show's outgoing co-host, Sam Armytage.
On March 11, Sam, 44, was spotted raising a glass at a Sydney restaurant with many of her Channel 7 pals including Kylie after signing off on her eight-year stint on the breakfast program.
Kochie and Nat no-show explained
But Sam's former co-host David ‘Kochie’ Koch was nowhere to be seen, nor was her replacement, Natalie Barr, 53. When quizzed about why they weren't there by radio duo Kyle and Jackie O, Kochie, 65, revealed that he and Nat 'didn't know' about the post-work 'do but stayed tight-lipped on further details.
On Monday morning, Kylie shed more light on Kochie and Nat's mysterious no-show when she appeared on the Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS FM with her The Morning Show co-host Larry Emdur.
When asked point-blank about the guest list controversy, Kylie revealed that she was the one who organised the celebratory meal for her friend Sam in the eleventh hour.
"I think it's all my fault and it's blown up into something that is nothing," Kylie responded, slightly flustered.
She explained that the farewell was a spur-of-the-moment thing when she discovered that Sam didn't have plans after clocking off on her last day.
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"I said to Sam, 'What are you doing after work? You can't go home and do the washing. Let's go out and have [lunch]. Let's have a champagne; you can't go home'," Kylie recalled.
Turns out, the last-minute nature of the lunch meant not all of Sam's co-workers got the memo.
"So you were the one responsible for this impromptu little get-together!" exclaimed Jackie O.
"Is that why Kochie didn't know anything about it?" asked Kyle to which Kylie replied, "Yes!"
"So you made [Sam] wait around throughout your show [The Morning Show] then you all hit the lunch?" he followed up.
Kylie laughed and sheepishly said yes, but added that the Sunrise crew "all had some champagne in the office with Sam" until her show wrapped at 11.30am.
Kochie, Nat 'not invited'
Two weeks on from Sam's farewell lunch at Catalina in Sydney's Rose Bay, Kochie finally revealed why neither he nor his new co-host Nat Barr attended during a frank chat with Kyle and Jackie O.
"Well, we didn’t know about it," he admitted when prodded by Kyle.
"Oh, you weren't invited?" remarked Kyle, however, neither Kochie nor Nat seemed to reply.
Kochie quickly went on to play down the alleged snub, saying that the network had planned a 'big postponed Christmas party' the following day.
It's believed that Sam was expected to attend the belated festive event however, News.com.au reports she was unable to attend 'due to a prior commitment'.
Nat piped up to say that the Sunrise team had been 'drinking all through the morning' on Sam's last day.
'Knew for months'
Elsewhere in the chat, Kochie told Kyle and Jackie O that he and Nat had been aware of Sam's plans to quit the show a 'couple of months' before she made the shock announcement on March 8.
Nat also opened up about how she came to replace Sam in the hosting chair after presenting the news on Sunrise for several years.
"There was a call from the big boss who said, 'How about it?' I said, 'Oh, OK, yeah right.'
"I was actually really nervous. I was so nervous that one of the bosses who called actually said, 'Are you sure you want this?'"
She said she wasn't 'clamouring' for anything else from her job; "If Sam had wanted to stay for another 10 years that was fine with me."
It was her husband, Drew who kindly but firmly told her it was time to 'step up'.
"He said, 'If you sit there and say no and you’re listening to someone else do it, you’ll regret it.'"
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