Samantha Armytage has no regrets about taking a huge leap of faith in her career and love life, and she’s never been happier

It’s been a momentous past year for Sam Armytage.

After leaving her lucrative co-hosting role on Sunrise, falling in love, moving to the countryside and starting a top-rating podcast, Sam is now finally stopping to smell the roses and she couldn’t be happier.

During the launch of Dan Murphy’s new lines of French rosé wine, the former Sunrise host, 45, marvelled at how far she’s come as the one-year anniversary of her departure from Channel Seven’s breakfast show creeps up.

“In a few weeks time it would have been 12 months since I made a huge move towards renewal and a massive new beginning of my own,” she said.

“My mother used to say to us Armytage kids, ‘Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece after all’. And so finally, I did.

“During my ongoing career, I’ve been placed into a huge, wonderful for the most part, highly-scrutinised, high-adrenaline, high-pressure job.

“And then a few sign posts came along that made me re-think everything. I was in my 40s, I was independent, financially and emotionally. I’d made it to the top of my tree in my industry. I have nothing to prove to anyone. And it was one chapter, it was not the whole story.”

Sam said that after her mother’s tragic passing in November 2020, a barrage of media scrutiny and her home being vandalised, she had “had enough”.

Then along came her now-husband Richard Lavender, who helped her solidify her new path in life.

“I met a divine and decent man, sweeter than the sweetest rose,” she gushed.

“I found the love of my life at 42. How lucky am I? And I realised you do not find the happy life, you make it.”

Sam said she made “massive changes” to design a new life for herself, which ultimately led to her leaving behind Sydney and moving with Richard to Bowral in the idyllic NSW Southern Highlands.

“I took a huge leap of faith, a scary and risky move and I’m sure many more ambitious types thought I was mad. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. It gave me time, that most precious commodity,” she said.

“The universe moved me towards a more honest, joyful and calm place. I found healing, proper rest, a chance to honour feelings and I gave my body and mind a break.

“I unfollowed negative people on social media accounts, I stopped watching negative TV. I realised I didn’t have to dominate an industry to be successful or to be number one at anything.”

Sam, who was one of the nation’s top news presenters during the peak of her career, said fulltime work often felt like a “dangerous and exhausting treadmill”.

“When I gave it all up and walked away, really great things started to happen. I was offered a fantastic new work contract with new and exciting work opportunities and I didn’t have to talk about the COVID numbers day in, day out,” she admitted.

Sam said she couldn’t be happier writing a weekly column for Stellar Magazine, while her podcast Something To Talk About With Samantha Armytage continues to go from strength to strength, and is regularly in Apple’s top 10 weekly podcasts.