After weeks of speculation about her next move at Channel 9, Samantha Armytage is officially heading back to breakfast TV – at least for the summer.
The network has announced that the former Sunrise host will step in for Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo on Today over the Christmas break, joining Nova radio favourite Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli as co-host.
The festive season lineup will see Today Extra’s David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys kick off the holidays in early December, before Samantha and Wippa take over from mid-December through to the end of the year. The baton will then pass to Alison Piotrowski, Dr Nick Coatsworth, Joel Dry and Jayne Azzopardi, who will lead the program into the first few weeks of 2026.
While industry chatter had suggested Samantha might make a permanent return to the breakfast TV circuit – particularly amid rumours about Sarah Abo’s contract status – Channel 9 has confirmed that Karl and Sarah will be back behind the desk on Monday, January 19.
This summer stint marks familiar territory for Samantha, who also hosted Today during last year’s holiday period alongside weather presenter Dan Anstey, her first on-air role for the network since leaving Channel 7.
The announcement follows Samantha’s successful primetime debut hosting The Golden Bachelor, which she described as a refreshing change of pace after years of pre-dawn starts.
“Look, I’m under contract at Nine, and this is my first role at Nine, and it’s really lovely for me to have a show that is mine, that is new to Australia, and is just 100 per cent mine,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“So I love that, and I’m also very happy in prime time. I think this is really a nice move in my career, and a nice place for me to land, so I’m thrilled with how everything’s going.”
For now, it seems Samantha’s return to the Today desk will be short and sweet. But as fans know, she’s never one to rule out a bigger comeback.
Image: Channel 9
