Journalist Samantha Armytage has returned to Sunrise after taking six weeks off to recover from an illness.
The 43-year-old morning show host’s absence left newsreader Natalie Barr stepping up to the plate and filling in alongside co-host David Koch.
The star looked delighted to return to work on Monday morning however, during the live broadcast from the Brekky Central in Sydney’s Martin Place.
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The co-anchors sat 1.5 metres apart in accordance with the government’s strict social distancing policy.
Armytage informed her Instagram followers on Sunday that she would be coming back to the Channel Nine program the following morning as she returned to the city after healing from a “respiratory illness” at her $2.2 million property in Bowral, NSW.
“Thank you all you lovely people for your (thousands of) lovely messages asking when I was coming back to work… I’m back tomorrow,” she wrote in a caption posted to social media.
Samantha’s last appearance on the show was March 13, but had taken time off on February 26.
She returned briefly on March 3rd but took more time off on March 17.
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“Hi all… I’m taking a few weeks off work as I’ve had a respiratory infection (for three months) since the bushfires and it just won’t heal,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
“I don’t have coronavirus, but I’m worried I’ll get it if I don’t get better. Thought it was a good time to lay low,” she added.
It seems the brekky star didn’t stop working altogether though as she completed a column for Stellar Magazine on April 12, where she admitted she was using her free time at home to “ponder” on the global response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Like everyone right now, my emotions range from anger to disbelief to awe,” she wrote.
“I’ve pondered how to punish powerful, dishonest countries when they blatantly do the wrong thing. Who hands out the punishment?
“And speaking of who, will we ever trust the World Health Organization again?”
