Samantha Armytage will return to brekkie TV as a fill-in host for Sarah Abo on the Today couch after months of intense speculation about the former Sunrise host’s future.
Armytage, who is currently hosting The Golden Bachelor, will be filling in for Karl Stefanovic and Abo over the Christmas break alongside Nova radio host Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
The holiday period will begin with Today Extra’s David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys occupying the desk before Samantha and Wippa take over from mid-December until the end of the year.
Today will then be helmed by familiar Nine faces Alison Piotrowski, Dr Nick Coatsworth, Joel Dry, and Jayne Azzopardi for the first few weeks of 2026.
Nine has also confirmed that Karl and Sarah will both be returning to the desk on January 19 amid rampant speculation Armytage was in line to take over permanent duties from Abo.
But Wednesday’s announcement will likely do little to dispel industry speculation that Armytage – who presented rival Sunrise with David Koch for nearly a decade – could take a permanent chair alongside Karl Stefanovic.
Armytage, 49, responded to the rumours she could replace Abo during a live radio interview with 2GB’s Ben Fordham last month.
“Look, I think Sarah’s wonderful,” she said.
“I saw her at the Nine Upfronts the other night, and we gave each other a hug and I said, ‘Are you okay?’ and she’s good.
“Sarah and Karl are fantastic.”
The TV veteran then shut down the speculation and insisted she was very happy as the host of the Golden Bachelor.
“You know how it goes, people talk,” she told Fordham.
“But I am very happy in prime time – Golden Bachelor is where it’s at for me. I’m quite content with my little lot in life, thank you.”
Meanwhile, Today continues to lag behind Seven’s Sunrise in the brekkie TV wars, with the pairing of Matt Shirvington and Natalie Barr delivering a sustained lead as of October.
