“Sam has plans afoot”: Ratings smash puts Sam Armytage in the driver’s seat
Farmer Wants a Wife's Samantha Armytage has enjoyed early success with her new hosting gig, with the reality series seeing a wave of success in the ratings department for its first few episodes.
The 2023 season premiere alone drew in approximately 1.08 million viewers, leading many to believe that Armytage has made leaps and bounds towards reasserting herself as a valued member of the team over at Seven.
“She’s now in a place to get just about anything she wants from hereon in,” a source told New Idea, before noting that Armytage was driven by ambition, and was already looking ahead to her next steps with the network.
“Sam has plans afoot,” they explained. “She's cleverly stayed on the network's radar, knowing if she landed and nailed a lead role like in FWAW [Farmer Wants a Wife] then doors would open.”
Sam, who had parted ways with Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise in 2020, had a tough battle ahead when she took over from beloved former FWAW host Natalie Gruzlewski. Even though Armytage had previously appeared on the show in a guest capacity, fans were shocked by the news, and struggled to come to terms with the upcoming shift.
According to New Idea’s insider, this applied in part to Gruzlewski too, with them explaining that “no one saw this coming, least of all Nat. She didn't know the full extent of the role changes until recently - it was a bolt out of the blue!
“Sam has sold herself as the better choice because she maintains she is married to a farmer, grew up on a farm, and therefore is more relatable. Although that remains to be seen.”
And it was an obvious change from the first 15 minutes of the new season, with Gruzlewski only seen in a handful of frames, while Armytage took centre stage interviewing the latest batch of hopeful contestants.
The same source reported that Armytage is a “management favourite”, suggesting that the lineup shakeup was all part of an effort from the network to elevate Armytage’s professional profile again.
They also explained that Gruzlewski was “taking the demotion in her stride”, all while demonstrating the good quality that fans had come to know from her.
“Nat is no diva and was always a crowd favourite, the farmers and the women almost always warmed to her,” they said, before noting that there was a very real sense “this might end up being Nat’s final season” in light of the changes.
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