Samantha Armytage has apparently taken another thinly veiled swipe at her former employers Channel Seven after joining rival network Nine.
The outgoing Farmer Wants A Wife host, 48, was unveiled as host of Nine’s new dating show The Golden Bachelor on Upfronts on Thursday after weeks of rumours.
Her move to Channel Nine comes after she shocked fans by resigning from rival Seven in August after 21 years at the network in a huge career change.
Now she has seemingly taken a cruel swipe at her former employer Seven, as she took to Instagram on Friday to share a post celebrating her new job at Nine.
Sharing a photo of herself at Upfronts, Samantha extraordinarily said her move to Nine was like “coming home”, citing her first reporting job at the network in 1998.
She also said emphatically that a “piece of her heart” has always been at Nine throughout her long career, despite working for their rival Seven for more than 20 years.
Samantha wrote: ‘Well, this is a bit of a surprise, isn’t it? A wonderful change, a fresh start & a new network for me.
‘I’m thrilled to be joining @channel9 and it feels a bit like coming home – my first reporting job out of university in 1998 was at WIN TV in Canberra – so part of my heart is with the family all the time 9 career.’
Samantha Armytage has apparently taken another thinly veiled swipe at her former employers Channel Seven after joining rival network Nine
Sharing a photo of herself at Upfronts, Samantha extraordinarily said her move to Nine was like “coming home”, citing her first reporting job at the network in 1998.
The TV presenter then revealed details about her new hosting gig on The Golden Bachelor, which will air on Nine next year.
She continued, “My new show is THE GOLDEN BACHELOR coming out in 2025, and I’m so excited to keep playing TV Cupid, but this time for a more… ummm mature audience (if you’re in your 50s or 60s, single and looking for real love again. Apply now OR nominate someone you know)
“It’s THE biggest show in America and I know it’s going to be huge here. I can’t wait to start filming.
‘Join me on this wild ride, thanks for the warm welcome.. & bring on 2025!’
It’s not the first time Samantha has appeared to take aim at her former employer Seven, as she made a telling comment while speaking about her new role at Nine.
Speak with 9EntertainmentSamantha said The Golden Bachelor is about finding “real love” in an apparent swipe on her previous show Farmer Wants A Wife.
“You’re looking for some romance and you’re looking for real love,” she said in a seemingly pointed comment. “This is about finding real love.”
“I’m so excited about this show, it’s been huge in America and I have a feeling it’s going to be huge in Australia too.”
The ex-FWAW presenter also said emphatically that a “piece of her heart” has always been with Nine throughout her long career, despite working for their rival Seven for more than two decades.
The Golden Bachelor offers people in their 50s and 60s the chance to find their second chance at love and will premiere on Nine sometime in 2025.
Samantha’s comments could be seen as a criticism of her former Seven show Farmer Wants a Wife, after viewers criticized the show’s 2024 season for being ‘staged’.
When the 2024 series aired on social media, fans of the dating show criticized the producers, claiming they were “trying to make the show like MAFS.”
“I think the new producer is trying to make the show like MAFS,” one social media user wrote.
“They can edit it any way they want and make both the men and women into something other than what they are. All the kissing and stuff this year and the sexual innuendo seems more like MAFS than in previous seasons.”
“It will be the end of the show if they keep pushing for a new MAFS,” another user agreed.
“I agree with all of these statements, especially after watching the early seasons when it was REALLY a great show and it was about farmers finding love, not about trying to imitate MAFS,” another commented.
The outgoing Farmer Wants A Wife host, 48, was unveiled as host of Nine’s new dating show The Golden Bachelor on Upfronts on Thursday after weeks of rumors
The 2024 series was perhaps the most dramatic, with fan favorite farmer Bert walking away solo after deciding he wasn’t ready for a relationship.
However, it was later claimed that he left the series because of all the “drama he was forced into on the show.”
“He was done being a puppet for the producers on his farm who kept pushing him and the ladies to create drama,” an insider told Yahoo Lifestyle.
‘Farmer Wants A Wife’ presenter Samantha shocked fans in August when she resigned from Seven after 21 years, amid rumors about her next move.
And her new TV appearance on The Golden Bachelor was finally revealed at Nine’s Upfronts, where the network’s 2025 programming slate was unveiled to invited guests.
“I think you’ll all love this. It’s love for the golden age,” Samantha told 9Entertainment about her new TV show.
‘When I was called to participate in the show, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. [The Golden Bachelor] has been huge in America, and I have a feeling it will be huge in Australia too.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Samantha Armytage to Nine as the new host for our quest for love, the Golden Bachelor, where everyone deserves a second chance at love,” added Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer Liana Dubois.
Samantha’s new Nine contract is rumored to be worth a ‘significant sum’ according to sources, but no exact figures have been released.
The first American version of The Golden Bachelor starred father of two and widower Gerry Turner (pictured with Leslie Fhima in the show), 72, and was hugely popular on ABC
Warner Bros Australia first sparked speculation about a local version of the show in November 2023 when they dropped a trap for “fun, active and outgoing male seniors aged 60 or over who are divorced/widowed” to take part in a new dating series. .
‘We’d like to hear from you or anyone else who would like to nominate someone they know to take part in the show. We want to celebrate love at any age and show that when it comes to finding love and romance, age is just a number,” she added.
The first US version of The Golden Bachelor starred father-of-two and widower Gerry Turner, 72, with a Golden Bachelorette version subsequently launching with widow Joan Vassos, 61, looking for love.
The US version of the show has been hugely successful, with a finale attracting 6.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched final episode of the US Bachelor series since 2021.
