Longtime Sunrise executive producer Pell has given a candid new interview to TV Tonight as he departs for a plum new job in Los Angeles – becoming Seven’s new Senior Vice-President, Entertainment Content, North America.He spoke about the highs and lows of his 11 years in one of morning TV’s top jobs – and acknowledged that while he and Armytage developed a close friendship, they also fought “like cats and dogs, always about the creative process”.He also spoke about Armytage’s well-documented struggles with the tabloid scrutiny that came with her job as one of Australian TV’s most recognisable faces. During her final episode of Sunrise in March 2021, a tearful Armytage told viewers that she had “never fully understood some of the scrutiny and the snarkiness and the bullying from some aspects of the media”.Pell told TV Tonight that Armytage became a “big clickbait target” during her time on Sunrise. “She did really well in a field that maybe she never really wanted to go into,” he said.“In some ways she’s the anti-TV presenter. She doesn’t even really love the idea of being in the limelight. She’s a country girl who likes a quiet life. But, this very busy life found her and she killed it.”Armytage quit Sunrise months after marrying businessman Richard Lavender and moving to the NSW Southern Highlands in 2020. She’ll next be seen as an on-air “matchmaker” on Seven’s dating show Farmer Wants A Wife. In another recent interview reflecting on his time at Sunrise, Pell named the show’s infamous 2016 Sex and the City skit as his “biggest on-air stuff-up”.That faux-pas came when Sex and the City actress Kristin Davis visited Australia to promote her recent charity work, and field more than a few questions about the show that made her a household name. Appearing live on Sunrise, Davis was “ambushed” into acting out a scene from the show with Armytage and colleagues Natalie Barr and Edwina Bartholemew, who all donned comedy wigs to play Carrie, Samantha and Miranda alongside Davis’ Charlotte. A visibly uncomfortable Davis gamely played along on camera – but slammed the cringe-worthy stunt on social media hours later.Pell told The Daily Telegraphthat “the main reason” the skit had failed was that it “just wasn’t funny”.“It was not Sam or Nat or Eddy’s idea. It was a production meeting decision so I will take the rap because I was the head producer,” he said.
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