"It can be incredibly hurtful." Samantha Armytage opens up about constant criticism in the media.

Image: Tea With Jules/YouTube.

As co-host of Sunrise, it’s Samantha Armytage’s job to deliver the news – but all too often she’s found herself in the headlines as well.

Whether it’s stories of her supposed “diva”-like behaviour on set, speculation about her relationships or comments about her appearance, the 39 year old says that this negative attention does affect her.

‘Sometimes I don’t handle it very well. You’d be surprised, I know I can look so tough and put together. But it can be incredibly hurtful… I try not to read too much much of it,” she told Jules Sebastian in an interview for her YouTube channel, Tea With Jules.

Like many celebrities, she insists on avoiding the comment section at all costs.

“I never read the comments. Occasionally I’ll read an article and so much of it is wrong and that’s where I get… and you know if I do the wrong thing or do something dodgy then by all means have a go at me but so much of it is made up and so much of it is silly that I kind of detach from it – I think ‘Who is this person that you’re talking about, that’s not even me’,” she said.

“It’s just society, I blame society.”(Post continues after gallery)

“I think that’s probably why I’m single right now, I’m a bit scared to… because now, if I look sideways at someone, the magazines say I’m dating them, so I have to be a bit careful about that,” she said.

In proof of the appetite the public has for stories about her, she recalled one day where a papparazzi shot of her got more clicks than the death of Kim Jong-il. Yes, really.

“It was just some pictures of me and my ex-boyfriend walking down the street, not interesting at all, and that was the most clicked on news item – I did laugh at that,” she said.

“As I’ve got older – and this is the beauty of getting older – you become a little less worried about what people are going to think.”

She admits hosting breakfast television five days a week - waking up at 3:50am and in bed by 7:30pm - is not necessarily conducive to a relationship.

“I have no life - hello, it’s no wonder I’m single! The man out there is probably like a taxi driver or a baker,” she said.

When it comes to men, the 39 year old says she is ‘hopeless’.

“My mum said to me one day, ‘Sam, you have worse taste in men than Princess Diana’. It’s true, it’s appalling. If there are 29 great guys in a room and one dickhead, I will pick the dickhead every single time,” she told Sebastian.

Working in a male dominated industry, Armytage says she’s had no choice but to toughen up, but describes the female competition as ‘crazy’.

“I’m quite a feminine girl’s girl. I then went into an incredibly masculine industry, and I don’t just mean there’s lots of men there, but I mean you have to behave like a man to get a hit, you have to be tough, aggressive, and you have to be on the front foot all the time - femininity really has no major place,” she says. (Post continues after gallery.)

“Women always compete with each other, we have since the caveman days, we’re wired that way but it’s sort of crazy now and I suppose in my life, in my industry and social circle it’s crazy.”

Much of the commentary over the years has been focussed on Armytage’s weight, but despite her inspiring body positivity, she admits she struggles some days.

“I’ve got a womanly figure and my weight goes up and down and that’s not something I find easy - you know it can be tricky,” she said.

“I find getting ready quite stressful, I’d much rather interview the prime minister than work out what I’m going to wear!”

For the record, we reckon you'd be equally as amazing at both, Sam.

How do you deal with negativity in your life?