Natalie Joyce does not want her husband unseated as deputy prime minister or Nationals leader, News Corp Australia reports.

The paper cites Mrs Joyce's close friends as saying she has been worried that some in the Nationals party room are using the scandal to unseat Mr Joyce and claim the leadership.

Only about a third of the Nationals party room have openly supported Mr Joyce while six are locked against him and the rest have refused to comment, according to the Daily Telegraph .

Natalie Joyce says estranged husband Barnaby doesn't deserve to lose his job over the affair saga. (AAP)

Mrs Joyce made her first public appearance since her estranged husband's public scandal when she attended the luxury boat birthday party of a National and Liberal Party donor on Sydney Harbour, the publication reports.

Mr Joyce has been in crisis since it was revealed he had become embroiled in an affair with former staffer Vikki Campion and is expecting a child with her in April.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald , Mr Joyce says he will not be forced out of office.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told the newspaper.

Mrs Joyce has voiced her concerns that he may lose his role as Nationals leader and deputy Prime Minister over his public affair scandal (AAP). (AAP)

"I’ve been in heaps of fights in my political life, this is another one, in any person’s political career you aren’t created by the times in your favour, you’re tempered by the times of adversity. That’s how politics works - you rise to deal with it.

"I am humbled by the support in my electorate and in the community. People are starting to see this as a witch hunt. I’m not going anywhere, I never would.

"People know enough about me to know that I’m hardly one to run away from a fight."

Federal minister Michael McCormack dodged multiple questions about the Nationals leadership in an interview yesterday, refusing six times to support Mr Joyce as leader.

"There is no challenge at the moment ... he has the party's support," Mr McCormack told Sky News.

He also refused five opportunities to rule out a challenge at next Monday's party room meeting.

The Nationals leader is now facing political pressure from his own party room over the scandal (Supplied).

"There is no spill, there is no vacancy at the moment," Mr McCormack said.

When told it looked like he was refusing to support his leader, Mr McCormack eventually said: "Of course I support Barnaby Joyce, he's our leader, he's been a very good leader."

Queensland Nationals MP Llew O'Brien said there were obviously people concerned about the crisis engulfing Mr Joyce, but just as many if not more were supportive of him.

Asked if there was any chance Mr Joyce would be rolled as Nationals leader, Mr O'Brien told ABC radio: "Twenty-four hours is a long time in politics. I don't think there is."

The Wide Bay MP does not believe Mr Joyce should step down, and would not be drawn on who he would vote for in the event of a leadership spill.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the deputy prime minister's affair with his ex-staffer and now pregnant partner Vikki Campion has harmed the government.

The latest Newspoll shows the coalition has lost the small gain it made on Labor earlier in the month, while two in three voters believe Mr Joyce should quit as Nationals leader.

Mr Joyce has also clashed publicly with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who described his affair with Ms Campion as "distracting and unhelpful" (Supplied).

"It's distracting and it's unhelpful," Mr Turnbull told 3AW of the weeks-long scandal.

Speaking in London, Foreign Minister and deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop said there had been "more than enough commentary" on Mr Joyce's situation and she wasn't going to add to it.

"The National Party is responsible for electing its leaders ... it's not a matter for me or the Liberal Party."

Ms Bishop said there were aspects of politicians' lives that should be kept private but Mr Turnbull's ban on sexual relations between ministers and staff made explicit the kind of behaviour that was unacceptable.

"The critical test is whether there's been any improper influence over a minister's decision, whether there's a conflict of interest or whether there's been any misuse of funds," she said.

Nationals executives from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, as well as the federal body, reportedly held crisis talks late on Monday to try and resolve the crisis caused by Mr Joyce.