EXCLUSIVE: Samantha Armytage opens up about taking over from Osher Günsberg.

The Golden Bachelor's Samantha Armytage / Samantha Armytage and Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden.

Samantha Armytage has revealed she was part of the casting process for The Golden Bachelor. Photos: Channel 9/Getty

In an effort to revive the Bachelor franchise in Australia, Channel 9 has completely switched things up. Not only does The Golden Bachelor feature mature-aged participants looking for love, but Samantha Armytage has replaced Osher Günsberg to become the reality show’s first female host.

This gender-swap has since resulted in a clear change of dynamic, with a much stronger bond formed between the host and female contestants, as well as a surge in reports suggesting Samantha and leading man Barry ‘Bear’ Myrden are now dating. While Samantha has denied rumours of any off-camera romance, she told Yahoo Lifestyle that she was a part of “chemistry tests” to help choose who the inaugural Golden Bachelor would be.

“I did get to meet them, the final three before we chose, and Bear was the very obvious choice,” she said.

“I mean, he’s handsome, but besides that, he was so kind. His story was so powerful and tragic, and he was ready.”

Samantha went on to say that she was “struck” by Bear saying he was ready to find someone after dedicating the past 14 years to raising his children following his wife’s death from cancer.

“I think a lot of the women go, ‘Okay, I’ve raised my kids, now it’s my time’, but you don’t hear men say that very often,” she said.

“It’s a really brave thing to put yourself out there and be so vulnerable, so you need to have the right person who’s capable of that and understands it, because not everybody can do that.”

Is Samantha Armytage dating The Golden Bachelor?

Between her relationship with Bear and reports that she is hosting Today with Karl Stefanovic, Samantha Armytage isn’t a stranger to the rumour mill.

The journalist admitted she’s well aware that rumours are a part of “this game that we all play in the media”, but she doesn’t ever give them much thought — especially because most of them aren’t true.

“I roll my eyes, and mostly, I just laugh. I mean, I’ve been around 25 years in TV, so you have to laugh,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“I mean, the Bear rumours I just find absolutely hilarious. Can you imagine? Plot twist: ‘Armytage runs off with the Bachelor’. No, I did not do that.

“Every time I stand next to a man, they say I’m dating him. I take a friend of mine to the races who’s gay, and they say we’re dating. It’s like, no, we’re not! So it’s funny, it’s actually funny.”

Taking over from Osher

In a rather bizarre turn of events, Osher Günsberg was in the audience at Channel 9’s Upfront event last year when Samantha Armytage was announced as the host of The Golden Bachelor.

While one might assume there’s tension between the pair, having hosted the same TV format, Samantha insists that The Golden Bachelor is completely different to the series Osher hosted for 10 years.

“Obviously, Osher did a superb job for all those years with the original Bachelor, and all power to him. He’s a great guy and a very good host and a terrific television personality, but this is a different era now,” she explained.

“This is a fresh show, this is a fresh take. I love that Channel 9 has put a woman in as host. It’s very flattering, and it’s very exciting — and it worked.

“There is an episode where I sit down with the women and we have a glass of wine and a chat and a really good DnM, as women tend to do, and it’s really powerful. There were tears all around.”