Sunrise host David Koch and executive producer Michael Pell have lashed out at The Daily Mail over its claim of a cheeky ratings email being sent to the breakfast show’s staff.

According to The Daily Mail, staff at Sunrise received a “congratulatory email” on Wednesday referencing how the ratings gap between the show and its rival Today continues to widen.

The new-look Today show was pummelled in the ratings on Monday, debuting with a metro audience of 197,000 compared to Sunrise’s 266,000. It also copped a wave of criticism from viewers.

Nine’s brekkie program did a little better on Tuesday, growing its metro audience by 5,000 to 202,000. However, Sunrise did even better with 275,000 viewers.

Pell took to Twitter yesterday to slam The Daily Mail over its “congratulatory email” claim, and demanded the publication change the article’s headline and copy.

This is not true @DailyMailAU. There has been no “cheeky congratulatory email” circulated to @sunriseon7 staff. We work hard every day and we thank our viewers for watching. No victory laps here. Change the headline and copy. pic.twitter.com/M3xNQm7Zxf

— Michael Pell (@MichaelPell) January 16, 2019

Kochie then tagged himself in on the stoush, denying he never got the email.

I didn’t get the email @DailyMailAU We never ever take for granted whatever position we’re in. Never have and never will. This is incredibly mischievous and completely goes against our internal @sunriseon7 culture and values https://t.co/2PrMkMAP0k

— David Koch (@kochie_online) January 16, 2019

Seven declined to comment further when contacted by B&T.