David ‘Kochie’ Koch jokingly ‘snubbed’ his replacement Matt Shirvington on camera on Sunrise on Friday, as he enjoyed his last ever day on the show.
Kochie, 67, was greeted with applause, hugs and well wishes from the Sunrise team and his family as he walked through the show’s studios for the final time.
In a cheeky and thinly-veiled reference to the moment Tracy Grimshaw awkwardly snubbed her ACA replacement Allison Langdon last year, Kochie pretended not to see Matt, 44, who is taking over the top job as co-host of Sunrise from Monday.
After he kissed wife Libby, Kochie jokingly blanked former Olympian Matt, who appeared crestfallen after he tried to hug Kochie and cheered him on.
‘Just joking, just joking. I got you an Ally Langdon!’ Kochie said while laughing and hugging Matt.
David ‘Kochie’ Koch jokingly ‘snubbed’ his replacement Matt Shirvington on camera on Sunrise on Friday, as he enjoyed his last ever day on the show
‘You almost got me, you almost got me!’ Matt replied while laughing.
Kochie stunned his colleagues on Monday when he announced his resignation from the hit breakfast show after 21 years.
Behind the scenes photos show his co-hosts Natalie Barr, Edwina Bartholomew and Mark Beretta overcome with emotion in between breaks in filming.
Kochie, 67, was greeted with applause, hugs and well wishes from the Sunrise team and his family as he walked through the show’s studios for the final time
In a cheeky and thinly-veiled reference to the moment Tracy Grimshaw awkwardly snubbed her ACA replacement Allison Langdon last year, Kochie pretended not to see Matt, 44, who is taking over the top job as co-host of Sunrise from Monday
Kochie was greeted with applause and cheers as he made his way through the studio
During his on air announcement, Natalie looked heartbroken when Kochie said he had spent more time with her over the past few years than with members of his own family.
It comes after an awkward interaction between Tracy Grimshaw and A Current Affair replacement Allison Langdon was caught on camera.
In November, Grimshaw wrapped up her 17-year run as host on the show and was sent off with applause, hugs and well wishes from her Channel Nine colleagues as she walked out of the ACA studio for the very last time.
Footage of her farewell shows Grimshaw walking through a guard of honour and when Langdon goes in to hug her, she appears to reject the embrace. At the time, her replacement was not yet publicly named.
‘Just joking, just joking. I got you an Ally Langdon!’ Kochie said while laughing and hugging Matt
Grimshaw has since spoken out about the awkward snub.
After hugging several staff members, including Karl Stefanovic and Peter Overton, Grimshaw walked by Langdon who had her arms outstretched for an embrace.
But Grimshaw brutally brushed her, appearing to shake her head before hugging Stefanovic.
Speaking on the Today show shortly after, Langdon addressed the awkward moment, admitting she ‘didn’t get much sleep’ after the incident.
‘That’s where my heart breaks,’ Langdon said while watching the clip.
Footage of her farewell shows Grimshaw walking through a guard of honour and when Langdon goes in to hug her, she appears to reject the embrace
Grimshaw brutally brushed her, appearing to shake her head
She then hugged Karl Stefanovic who was standing next to Langdon
‘I’m devastated. I mean, I turned to you at the time going “Tracy Grimshaw just brushed me.” When you get brushed by your hero, I gotta say it hurts.’
Stefanovic said Grimshaw had written a statement and apologised to Langdon for snubbing her in the guard of honour.
‘Ally, I just watched the guard of honor from last night and I saw you went in to give me a hug,’ Grimshaw said in her statement.
‘And I hugged bloody Karl! I’m sorry I missed you. I was so overwhelmed and obviously didn’t see your petite head once his big boofhead loomed into vision. Big sorry.’
Speaking on the Today show, Langdon addressed the awkward moment admitting that she ‘didn’t get much sleep’ after the incident
‘I’m devastated. I mean, I turned to you at the time going “Tracy Grimshaw just brushed me.” When you get brushed by your hero, I gotta say it hurts,’ she said
‘Ahh relief!’ Stefanovic sighed, describing the moment one of the ‘greatest snubs on Australian television’.
Langdon replaced Grimshaw as host of the show.
During her final show, a teary Grimshaw thanked Australians for supporting A Current Affair as a slew of famous faces farewelled the long-time host after 17 years on the show.
The TV veteran was honoured by celebrities and ordinary Aussies who her show has helped over the years.
The presenter, who has interviewed the likes of Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, Celine Dion and Sharon Stone in her 40-year career, was handed a bouquet of flowers as she told viewers they would ‘soon’ find out who would take her place.
‘I’m terrible at the GB word, you know, the one that ends in ‘bye’ and starts in ‘good’ because I’ll blub and you all know that won’t be pretty,’ Grimshaw said.
‘But, seriously when I started here, my bosses at the time said they didn’t like interviews that ran longer than four minutes because you’d be bored.
‘And now look at us. The entire show can run interviews like that because you’ve told us you love them. Thank you for watching them.’
A teary Grimshaw was handed a bunch of flowers as she teased to viewers they would find out ‘soon’ who would be taking her place at A Current Affair
Grimshaw paid tribute to the entire Channel Nine team and gave a special shout-out to ‘Daria’ who she said has done her auto-cue since the Today Show.
A series of high-profile Aussies paid tribute to Grimshaw, with her colleagues praising her journalistic skill and ability to connect with everyday Australians.
Anthony Albanese, Hamish and Andy, Kyle Sandilands, Ita Buttrose, John Howard, Ray Hadley and Leigh Sales were just a few of the familiar faces.
Mr Albanese asked if Australian television would ever be the same again, while Kyle Sandilands applauded Grimshaw for always putting her guests at ease.
During her final episode, Grimshaw spoke with flood victims in Eugowra in NSW’s central-west town who received a $50,000 donation from Coles live on-air.
The show took a trip down memory lane, returning to some of Grimshaw’s most notable interviews, including Sue and Lloyd Clarke – the parents of domestic violence victim Hannah Clarke – the Irwin family and Olivia Newton John.
In September, the veteran presenter announced she was quitting A Current Affair, later revealing she planned to take a year off to amend her work-life balance.
Ally Langdon replaced Tracy as host of ACA after leaving the Today show
