Samantha Armytage has seemingly 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 the host of Nine’s new dating show The Golden Bachelor at Upfronts on Thursday after weeks of rumours.
Her switch to Channel Nine comes after she shocked fans by stepping down from rival Seven in August after 21 years with the network in a huge career change.
Now, she has seemingly taken a savage dig at her former employers Seven as she took to Instagram on Friday to share a post celebrating her new job at Nine.
Sharing a snap of herself at Upfronts, Samantha extraordinarily said her move to Nine was like ‘coming home’, citing her first reporting job being at the network in 1998.
She also pointedly said a ‘bit of her heart’ has always been with Nine throughout her long career, despite spending more than 20 years working for their rival Seven.
Samantha penned: ‘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 join @channel9 & feel a little like I’m coming home – my first reporting job out of university in 1998 was with WIN TV in Canberra – so a bit of my heart has been with the 9 family my whole career.’
Samantha Armytage has seemingly taken another thinly-veiled swipe at her former employers Channel Seven after joining rival network Nine
Sharing a snap of herself at Upfronts, Samantha extraordinarily said her move to Nine was like ‘coming home’, citing her first reporting job being at the network in 1998
The TV presenter went on to reveal details about her new hosting gig on The Golden Bachelor, which will be coming to screens on Nine next year.
She went on: ‘My new show is THE GOLDEN BACHELOR coming in 2025, & I’m so excited to continue to play a TV Cupid, but this time for a more… ummm mature crowd (if you’re in your fabulous 50’s or 60’s, single and looking for real love again. Apply now OR nominate someone you know)
‘It’s THE biggest show in America & I know it’s going to be huge here. Can’t wait to start filming.
‘Join me for this wild ride, thx for the warm welcome.. & bring on 2025!’
It is not the first time Samantha has seemingly taken aim at her former employers Seven as she made a telling remark while gushing over her new role at Nine.
Speaking to 9Entertainment, Samantha said The Golden Bachelor is about finding ‘real love’ in an apparent swipe at her former show Farmer Wants A Wife.
‘You’re looking for some romance and you’re looking for real love,’ she said in an apparently pointed remark. ‘This is about finding real love.’
‘I am so excited about this show, it has been huge in America and I have a feeling it’s going to be huge in Australia too.’
The ex-FWAW host also pointedly said a ‘bit of her heart’ has always been with Nine throughout her long career, despite spending more than 20 years working for their rival Seven
The Golden Bachelor offers people in their 50s and 60s a chance to find their second chance at love and will premiere on Nine at some point in 2025.
Samantha’s remarks could be seen as a dig at her former Seven show Farmer Wants a Wife, after viewers criticised the show’s 2024 season for being ‘staged’.
Taking to social media when the 2024 series aired, fans of the dating show criticised 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 out to be something they aren’t. All the kissing, etc, this year and the sexual innuendos are more like MAFS than in previous seasons.’
‘It will be the end of the show if they keep pushing it to be another MAFS,’ another user agreed.
‘I agree with all these statements, especially after watching the first seasons when it was REALLY a great show and it was really about farmers finding love, not trying to imitate MAFS,’ another commented.
The outgoing Farmer Wants A Wife host, 48, was unveiled as the host of Nine’s new dating show The Golden Bachelor at Upfronts on Thursday after weeks of rumours
The 2024 series was arguably the most dramatic, and saw fan favourite 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 had been pushed into creating on the show’.
‘He was done being a puppet for the producers on his farm who continued to push him and the ladies into creating drama,’ an insider told Yahoo Lifestyle.
Outgoing Farmer Wants A Wife host Samantha shocked fans in August when she stepped down from Seven after 21 years, with rumours rife about her next step.
And, her new TV gig on The Golden Bachelor was finally unveiled at Nine’s Upfronts, where the network’s schedule of 2025 programming was unveiled to invited guests.
‘I think you’re all going to love this. It’s love for the golden ages,’ Samantha told 9Entertainment of her new TV show.
‘When I got the call to join the show, I didn’t hesitate. [The Golden Bachelor] has been huge in America, and I have a feeling it’s gonna be huge in Australia, too.’
‘We are beyond 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,’ Nine’s Chief Marketing Officer Liana Dubois added.
Samantha’s new Nine contract is rumoured to be worth a ‘significant amount,’ according to sources, but no exact numbers have been released.
The first US version of The Golden Bachelor starred father-of-two and widower Gerry Turner (pictured with Leslie Fhima on the show), 72, and it was hugely popular on ABC
Warner Bros Australia first sparked speculation about a local version of the show in November 2023 when they put out a fall for ‘fun, active, and outgoing male seniors aged 60 or over who are divorced/widowed’ to take part in a new dating series.
‘We want to hear from you or anyone who would like to nominate someone they know to take part in the show. We want to celebrate love at every age and show that when it comes to finding love and romance, age is just a number,’ they added.
The first US version of The Golden Bachelor starred father-of-two and widower Gerry Turner, 72, with a Golden Bachelorette version then launching with widow Joan Vassos, 61, looking to find love.
The US version of the show has been wildly successful, with its finale garnering 6.1million viewers, making it the most watched final episode of the American Bachelor series since 2021.
