Aussie TV show 'ambushed' Sex and the City star Kristin Davis

Actress Kristin Davis on the Australian show Sunrise.

Oh, to be a visiting celebrity doing the Australian promotional rounds.

Kristin Davis - best known for her role as Charlotte in iconic TV series Sex and the City, which finished airing 12 years ago - is in Australia at the moment. She's there as a guest of Australia for UNHCR, discussing her important work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees following her 2015 mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Davis, 50, made her only breakfast television appearance for the visit on Sunrise this morning - and it was a painful experience.

After an initial discussion of her work with the UNHCR, Davis politely endured question after question about the TV series which wrapped back in 2004, but appeared visibly uncomfortable when the hosts threw to a clip of her as Charlotte: the clip in question was from the first Sex and the City film, and showed Charlotte in the throes of a bout of explosive diarrhoea.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Davis pleaded, asking the hosts to stop airing the footage.

However, the worst was yet to come.

Sam Armytage led a bewildered Davis across the studio, to find fellow Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and Edwina Bartholemew, decked out in comedy wigs to resemble Sex and the City characters Miranda and Samantha.

Before Davis had time to say "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here," Armytage had donned a curly fright wig to become Carrie Bradshaw, and the quartet stumbled their way through a reading of a scene from the show:

"This is a first. I have NEVER done this..." - @KristinDavis @sunriseon7 #sun7 https://t.co/JqX8fWU5j8

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) February 10, 2016

"This is a first, ladies, I just want you to know that I have never done this," Davis said as the sketch reached its merciful conclusion.

"But what did you think of it?" asked Barr.

"Ahhh... I don't know that this is a great idea, frankly," was Davis's diplomatic response.

"No offence, but you know... you know... you're very brave."

Once the cameras stopped rolling, Davis took to Twitter to express her displeasure with the skit. The Sunrise twitter account posted a picture from the set with the caption 'What is going on here?", to which she responded: "I could ask you the same thing":

. I could ask you the same thing....😐 https://t.co/oGCwzio6GW

— Kristin Davis (@KristinDavis) February 10, 2016

Sunrise soon deleted their original tweet. Davis has also retweeted viewer comments slamming the segment, telling her followers that "Hopefully someone will let me talk about @Refugees".

Viewers were less charitable:

Poor @KristinDavis on @sunriseon7. I thought the segment would never end #sun7

— Ginny Sanders (@ginnycarey) February 10, 2016

@sunriseon7 what an embarrassment with the sex and the city skit. Epic fail!

— james (@jamespatrickleo) February 10, 2016

@KristinDavis just wow. That was the worst piece of TV I've ever seen. Kristin, you and your charity work is great. ❤️ Shame @sunriseon7 😡

— Paris Bates (@parisjasmineb) February 10, 2016

With her UNHCR work the focus of this short Australian trip, Davis's media commitments were limited, and outlets applying to interview her were required by her management to fill out a form outlining exactly what topics they would cover.

When contacted for comment, Sunrise Executive Producer Michael Pell had this to say:

"We are Sex and the City tragics at Sunrise. Our obsession may have gotten the better of us. We apologise for the bad acting and terrible costumes and we thank Kristin for being such a good sport. She is one of the most gracious stars we've had at Brekky Central."

After Davis expressed her displeasure with the skit, Sunrise this morning replayed an excerpt from it, with the hosts remarking that it was "even better the second time around."

- News.com.au