Samantha Armytage has finally made it back to the Today show desk after an unexpectedly painful mishap delayed her return – and, after everything that has happened at Nine lately, perhaps a fractured ankle was the most straightforward drama anyone could have hoped for.

The 49-year-old television favourite had been expected back on the breakfast program this week, only for a badly injured ankle to put those plans temporarily on ice.

And while you might reasonably expect an injury involving torn ligaments and broken bone to come with a suitably dramatic tale – a horse-riding accident perhaps, or an unfortunate incident on an exotic overseas assignment – Armytage has revealed the culprit was considerably less glamorous.

She was taking out the rubbish.

“I wish I had a sexy story for you, but I don’t,” Armytage told followers on social media, explaining that she missed the bottom step one morning over the weekend and twisted her ankle.

Adding insult to considerable injury, she wasn’t even attempting the manoeuvre in a pair of towering heels.

“I was wearing runners, I wasn’t even wearing heels,” she said, revealing she had torn ligaments away from the bone and fractured her ankle in “a couple of places”.

Armytage shared footage of herself recovering on the couch with her leg elevated and her foot strapped into a brace, along with a close-up of the spectacular swelling.

Never one to let dignity get in the way of a good laugh, the former Sunrise host even apologised for her week-old spray tan while showing off the injury.

Despite looking as though her ankle had picked a fairly serious fight with the bottom step – and lost – Armytage remained characteristically upbeat.

“There are a lot of people out there doing it a lot tougher than I am this week,” she said, adding that she was determined to return to Today as soon as possible.

And return she has, with Armytage making it back to the breakfast television fold after what has already been a rather eventful few months for the program.

The veteran presenter has been among the familiar faces drafted in following the dramatic departure of longtime host Karl Stefanovic, whose 21-year tenure on Today came to an abrupt end in June amid fallout from a controversial interview on his independent podcast. Nine and Stefanovic announced at the time that it was no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today while pursuing the podcast.

Armytage subsequently appeared alongside 60 Minutes reporter Tom Steinfort, with the pairing reportedly delivering a welcome ratings lift for the embattled breakfast show. Their stint together attracted enough attention that reports quickly emerged suggesting the pair could be in contention for permanent roles.

It has marked quite the television homecoming for Armytage, who spent eight years hosting rival Sunrise before leaving the program in 2021.

After years of breakfast television battles, high-profile departures and, more recently, enough behind-the-scenes intrigue at Today to keep the nation’s entertainment pages very busy indeed, Armytage’s arrival has offered viewers something reassuringly familiar.

Even if she has had to hobble there.

And perhaps there is something wonderfully Australian about the whole episode.

After surviving the notoriously brutal world of breakfast television, changing networks and stepping into one of the most talked-about chairs on Australian TV, Samantha Armytage was ultimately brought undone by the wheelie bin.

Here’s hoping someone else takes the rubbish out for a while.

Images: Instagram