Sunrise's David 'Kochie' Koch slams heckler's harsh jab: 'What the hell'

It was a massive day in David ‘Kochie’ Koch’s career yesterday, with the 67-year-old announcing his retirement from the Sunrise desk after 21 years.

Amongst all the well-wishes and tributes, Kochie was on cloud nine after revealing his news, however, he was soon brought down to earth when he went out into the streets of Sydney.

Kochie said he and his wife, Libby, were walking away from the Sunrise set to enjoy a nice lunch in a ‘lovely euphoria’ when all of a sudden a man started shouting at them from across the street.

“I walked by a bloke and he goes ‘I’m glad you’re resigning, you’re just a paid mouthpiece for big pharma and an anti-vaxxer’,” Kochie said.

“He started yelling at me across the road and Lib’s going ‘What the hell?’”

His co-host, Natalie Barr, couldn’t stop laughing, saying: “See we put ourselves out there, we take the good with the bad.”

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Kochie went on to thank viewers for their kind words and revealed he had received a ‘classy’ message from his rival Karl Stefanovic over at Channel Nine’s the Today show.

Kochie quits Sunrise

Kochie shocked viewers on Monday morning when he tearfully revealed he would be hanging up his boots at the Sunrise desk.

In a statement released to media at the same time as he made the announcement on-air, Kochie said: “I have loved every single minute of my time at Sunrise, and I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved over the last 21 years. I've been privileged to experience so many adventures, to meet so many incredible people and to cover so many moments of history in the making. It really is the world's best job.

“What I'll miss most is working with the amazing Sunrise team, especially Nat, Beretta and Dave Walters who have been with me for virtually the entire time on the show. I reckon I've spent more time with them than my family and it has been an utter joy. I'll miss the Sunrise viewers who have energised me every single day.

“I've also appreciated the support of the Seven Network, from the Chairman down, for allowing me to be myself, for their understanding when I've stuffed up – which is more often than I'd like to admit – and for their constant encouragement and respect,” he said.

Why Kochie's leaving Sunrise

The 67-year-old star also addressed his family life, saying he's stepping down to focus more on spending quality time with his loved ones.

“I know I'm going to miss it enormously, but it's time for me to work business hours, and for Libby and I to have a bit more flexibility to enjoy our burgeoning family, to travel and focus on our family business interests in Pinstripe Media and the Ausbiz business channel. As everyone knows, I'm a finance nerd so you'll still see me pop up every so often on RBA board meeting days or covering other big financial news, but as a guest rather than host," he said.

Announcing the news on-air to Sunrise viewers, Kochie said: “After 20 consecutive premierships in the breakfast TV ratings game, I’m frankly finding it harder to get off the ground to take those speccy marks and I reckon it’s time to bring through the next generation. Let me tell you, I don’t want to be a list clogger.”

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