After speculation Samantha Armytage was taking over as Today co-host, she and Michael Wipfli will step in as Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo take summer leave.

Samantha Armytage.

Channel 9 has announced that Samantha Armytage will host Today over the summer break. Photo: Channel 9

Following plenty of speculation about Samantha Armytage’s future on Channel 9 after The Golden Bachelor, the network has shared a major announcement about her next project. The former Sunrise host will be filling in for Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo on Today over the Christmas break alongside Nova radio host Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.

The holiday season will begin with Today Extra’s David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys taking on the primary hosting duties, before Samantha and Wippa take over from mid-December until the end of the year. The show will then be led by Alison Piotrowski, Dr Nick Coatsworth, Joel Dry, and Jayne Azzopardi for the first few weeks of 2026.

Who will host Today in 2026?

While rumours swirled that Samantha would be making an official return to breakfast TV in 2026, largely due to speculation that Sarah hadn’t yet signed her contract, Channel 9 has confirmed that Karl and Sarah will be returning to the desk on Monday, January 19.

Samantha previously hosted Today over the summer break last year alongside weather presenter Dan Anstey, which marked her first role on the network since jumping ship from Channel 7.

Samantha Armytage and Dan Anstey on Today.

Samantha made a surprising return to breakfast TV in December 2024. Photo: Instagram/thetodayshow

Samantha spills on her future at Channel 9

This comes after Samantha told Yahoo Lifestyle that she was “very happy” to be working primetime hours on The Golden Bachelor after years with an early morning alarm on Sunrise.

“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 remarked.

“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.”