Michael Usher’s relationship history amid Samantha Armytage dating confession
Their romance was previously a rumour.
Rather than reporting on the headlines, Michael Usher has become one himself, after Samantha Armytage confirmed that the pair went on a “few dates”.
The revelation came up with The Golden Bachelor Australia host was promoting her vodcast Act Two With Samantha Armytage on Kyle Sandilands Live.
While she did speak about her upcoming series, which will commence this week, Usher’s son, Max, who is known as Intern Max on Kyle’s show, decided to do some questioning of his own.
“There used to be some stuff in the press about Dad and you … that you and him had relations?” he asked during the October 13 episode.
To that, the TV host, Samantha laughed and responded with, “I can’t believe you are doing this to your own father”.
Rumours swirled of their romance in 2015, where they were reportedly set up by Sunrise’s Natalie Barr.
They allegedly went on a few dates, before they reconnected two years later, but their relationship had allegedly ended by mid-2017.
During the segment, Kyle also appeared stunned, and another producer joked that Max was looking for a “mother figure”.
“He’s got a mother! I know her, she used to work at Channel Nine,” The Golden Bachelor host said.
Max also admitted that his father texted him, saying he wasn’t impressed with the on-air admission.
Michael on the other hand, hasn’t comment, and prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight.
Read more about him below.
Does Michael Usher have a partner?
The TV journalist has been a corporate lawyer by the name of Gina since 2020.
Unlike his public-facing career, his partner on the other hand, prefers to stay out of the spotlight.
“She is the most private woman I could have found to partner with,” he told The Sunday Telegraph whilst he was on Dancing with the Stars Australia.
“And for me to be so public, it’s an interesting relationship. She’s deliberately quiet in her professional life, and loves and enjoys that very much. So in that sense, it’s a real mismatch, but in so many other ways it’s not.”
How many times has Michael Usher been married?
He was previously married to wife Annalie, a journalist who went on to become founder of Mosman Collective, a local news platform for Sydney’s lower North Shore.
After spending more than a decade together, they separated in 2013, with work-related pressures a rumoured reason for the split.
Speaking candidly to Stellar magazine in 2020, Usher, revealed his marriage breakdown left him “a complete wreck”.
“When you go through a sad time in your life, when you’ve got everything going at speed and you hit a wall and stop dead, you slide down that wall and fall in a heap – and I did that,” the veteran broadcaster admitted.
Does Michael Usher have children?
During their marriage, Usher and Annalie had three children: sons Tom and Max, and daughter Alex, but Usher told Stellar his demanding TV career had led to “a lot of dad guilt”.
“It may look like I’ve got things in hand, but I’m like a duck paddling underneath,” he told the publication.
“I’m treading water every time and it’s a mess, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a juggle and it comes with a lot of dad guilt, but it works.”
Divulging more, writing for The Nightly in September 2024, he told of how taking a few days off work to celebrate a friend’s birthday had allowed him to reassess.
“Going cold turkey on the daily fix of news is not easily done after too many years addicted to information, but what a few days away did for me was compartmentalise the work part of my brain and lock all that up in a mental storage unit and unlock the more important cupboards. The very full and overflowing cupboards that hold all the guilt, responsibility, memories, joy and long to-do lists of being a parent,” he wrote.
“It’s easy to shove all that away sometimes and auto-parent. There simply isn’t time to clean out that cupboard, chuck out what’s not needed, organise the important space, and make a bit of room for new shared memories and growth with your children and family.”
The journalist went on to say he had spent some time “letting that mental cupboard explode”, and letting go of some “stupid negative thoughts, guilt and unrealistic expectations” which he said “get you nowhere as a parent”.
“But they easily take over,” he admitted. “However, I did give myself a six out of 10 as a dad this year. The juggle and struggle have been real in 2024, and frankly it hasn’t been great in the dad stakes. So, with almost four months to go, I’m aiming to get that score to a solid eight out of 10.”
Is Michael Usher leaving Channel 7?
There were concerns Usher might be set to leave Channel Seven after he quit his role on Channel Seven news show The Latest in 2024.
The reason for the change was because production for The Latest was shifting from Sydney to Perth and Usher remains a regular on Channel 7 TV screens as co-anchor of Seven News Sydney on Friday and Saturday evenings alongside Angie Asimus.
Why did Michael Usher leave Channel Nine?
Before his time at Channel Seven, Usher was a reporter on current affairs show 60 Minutes, and he became the unofficial spokesman for the show when it came under intense scrutiny over a botched attempt to move two children from Lebanon in 2016.
A team from 60 Minutes had travelled to Lebanon with Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner in a bid to reunite with her two children who, it was alleged, had been moved to Lebanon by their father.
The “child recovery” operation led to the arrest, in Lebanon, of reporter Tara Brown and other crew members. They were subsequently released after spending two weeks in a Lebanese jail.
While Usher was not involved in the story, he was given the task of issuing an apology on behalf of the network over the incident which made international headlines.
Soon after, in August 2016, he announced his resignation, having been poached by Channel Seven.
“Big life and career decision to leave the Nine network after 25 years,” Usher wrote on Facebook at the time.
“Very hard call to leave great friends and colleagues but looking forward to more time at home with my children and less long haul travel, and to new challenges at the Seven Network.”
