'I can’t believe you’re doing this’: Michael Usher's son grills Samantha Armytage on pair's past

Ah, kids, they really do say the darndest things.

Usually, though, they don’t ask Samantha Armytage whether she had “relations” with their father. On air. While interning.

That distinction belongs to Max Usher, son of 7NEWS’ chief network anchor Michael Usher, who used an appearance by Armytage on Kyle Sandilands Live to revisit reports of a date between the two.

Look, let's face it, kudos to young Max; after all, an internship is a chance to make a name for yourself. 

“Wasn't it in, like, 2015 that you and my dad had relations? Is that correct?” Max asked.

Relations. Good grief. Someone get the chief network anchor a chair.

Armytage, who was there to promote her new independent venture ‘Act Two with Samantha Armytage’, appeared to take the line of questioning all in good faith.

“I can't believe you're doing this to your own father, Max,” she laughed.

Max, continued: “Yeah, no, I've really thrown him under the bus with this. I remember seeing all this stuff, like, you know, on the internet. I don't know. It came up at school.”

Children spend years refusing to tell you what happened at school, then happily broadcast your dating history to strangers. Outstanding.

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The ‘ick’ inquiry

The show’s culture reporter, Mary Madigan, then asked Armytage whether Usher senior had given her “the ick”.

“No, no, no,” Armytage replied.

A small mercy for Michael, whose morning was already providing quite enough material for the family group chat.

Madigan then widened the scope from one newsreader to an entire professional cohort.

“I don't know if you agree with this, Sam, but all men in media in general are complete freaks, and they're such a small pool, and then you end up dating them, and you're like, you're a freak.”

Somewhere, a man on a podcast slapped on his headphones and adjusted his microphone to prepare his rebuttal.

Dinner for two. Plus management

So, the original backstory goes like this: In 2015, Sunrise newsreader Natalie Barr reportedly played matchmaker and set up two single friends.

Usher arrived for dinner expecting Armytage. He also got her then-boss, Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell.

Nothing says romance like bringing your boss along.

Armytage later confirmed the dinner to The Daily Telegraph, though she said it was firmly in the friendship category.

“Michael Usher and I are mates,” she said.

“We had organised to catch up for dinner at a restaurant, but I thought if we went out and were photographed, people might think we were dating!”

Armytage brought her boss to dinner to keep her private life out of the headlines. Eleven years later, Usher’s son brought it to work.

You can plan for the paparazzi. Your kids, however, are another matter entirely.