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He’s the happy-go-lucky weather presenter whose cheeky sense of humour delights fans of Sunrise, but Sam Mac admits that for a long time there was a “blank page” in his family history.
“My dad never had a relationship with his dad,” the star revealed in a moving essay on 7NEWS.com.au in September 2025.
“Sadly, my grandpa left the family when my dad was just a baby. We don’t know why.”
Sam explained that his dad Sam Snr had always had a “burning desire” to know his father.
With a friend he turned detective, finally discovering that his dad Robert Carson McMillan died in Lancaster in 1969, aged 42.
The knowledge spurred Sam Snr on to do everything in his power to track down a photo of his dad. And thanks to an article in a local newspaper headlined “Australian man’s desperate search for photo of father he never knew”, he finally found one in 2025.
It was a profoundly emotional moment – and one that has left an indelible mark on the Channel Seven star.
“I’m really proud of him for not giving up. He found his dad,” Sam wrote. “The beautiful flow on from this search is that it’s brought my dad and I closer together.
“It’s reminded me that he was just a little boy once, and devastatingly he never got to enjoy a loving relationship with his father, something I will do everything to give my girls.”
Sam shares two children – Margot and Mabel – with his fiance Rebecca James, and it’s clear the hidden tragedy in his family’s past has only spurred the TV star on to savour every moment with his young family.
In June, Sam returned to his role at Sunrise after a “block of ‘Dad Leave’” where he was “primary carer” for the kids while Bec returned to work as director of content production brand Pearl Studios.
While the experience of being a stay-at-home dad wasn’t without its challenges (“It’s meltdown after meltdown after meltdown, and that’s just me. Am I right?!” Sam said), the star also described the changes in him as a “monumental shift”.
“Stay at home parents don’t get a lunch break, there’s no sick days, not even a Sunday sleep in. It’s an express train of emotions and never ending tasks,” he told 7NEWS.
But while the dramas tested him, he found that afterwards he “felt closer than ever” to his girls.
“I also feel more connected to my fiancée,” he explained. “My admiration for her (and for all stay at home parents) has entered another stratosphere.
“You are the real MVP’s. The hardest and most rewarding role in the world.”
Two months later, in August, Sam and Bec celebrated Mable’s first birthday – and to mark the occasion Sam shared an emotional open letter to her on Instagram.
“Dear Mabel, Today you’re one year old! Seeing Margot hold you when you were just one day old was our family’s most precious moment,” the TV presenter wrote.
“It was you we were waiting for. Our beautiful Mabelina. You bring the biggest smiles & laughs every single day. You really are the embodiment of the phrase “Just happy to be here”.
“You’re an all or nothing baby. There’s no in-between with our Mabel. It’s either 100 k’s an hour go go go, or you’re gently nuzzling your head into our chests and clinging like a koala bear at nap time. We love that feeling.
“Everything you do is big, brash, loud & with gusto. Never lose that gusto Mabel. Oh, the places you will go ?
“You are so ridiculously loved!” Sam concluded. “Thank you for electrifying our little family.”
