Armytage, 44, will present her final show on Thursday. She said she would be taking a break before “deciding on my next chapter”, capping a 22-year stint in broadcast journalism.

Armytage delivered the news this morning on the couch next to longtime co-host David Koch.

“As many of you know, of my personal life the last six months have been very bittersweet,” she said, wiping away tears.

“Some bits have been very happy and some bits have been very, very sad.

“I want to step out of this public world for a while take some time and calm things down [and] enjoy a bit of slow living and spend some time with my precious family, my husband and (dog) Banjo.”

In announcing her departure, Armytage quoted her late mother Libby Armytage who told her to “edit your life frequently and ruthlessly; it’s your masterpiece after all”.

Armytage married her partner Richard Lavender in December after a six-month engagement.

A Sunrise strap across the bottom of the screen read that “she’s going with our blessings”, a sentiment echoed by Armytage who described support from Seven’s senior figures.

Armytage joined the couch at Sunrise opposite Koch in 2013, replacing Melissa Doyle.

She had been hosting Weekend Sunrise for seven years when she joined the weekday edition, the highest-rated breakfast show in Australia.

But her post in the morning slot was not without controversy. Armytage was sued for racial vilification in June 2020 over a 2018 segment about Indigenous adoption.

She falsely claimed that Indigenous children could not be fostered by non-Indigenous people, which was found to be in breach of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.

Watchdog Australian Communications and Media Authority found the segment contained inaccurate statements and “strong negative generalisations about Indigenous people as a group”.

She also apologised in 2015 for making a positive remark about a woman who appeared to have whiter skin than her twin.