The network has finally announced the Today hosts for 2026 following plenty of speculation.

Rumours were swirling last month that Samantha Armytage would be replacing Sarah Abo on Today. Photos: Channel 9

She’s been popular among viewers since she first began hosting Today in 2023, but rumours emerged last month that Sarah Abo wouldn’t be returning to the breakfast show alongside Karl Stefanovic in 2026. According to The Australian, the TV presenter was “still in the throes” of negotiating her contract extension with Nine after requesting a hefty pay rise.

Sarah is reportedly paid $800,000 a year while Karl, who has hosted Today for more than two decades, earns a whopping $2.8 million a year. The publication claimed that Sarah’s push for pay parity “could end up costing her”, as network executives were in “secret talks” to replace her with former Sunrise host Samantha Armytage.

While Channel 9 stayed silent about the rumours and made no mention of the breakfast show at last month’s Upfronts event, their plans for 2026 have finally been revealed.

Who will host Today in 2026?

The network confirmed on Wednesday that Karl and Sarah will both be returning to the desk in 2026 after taking some time off over the holiday period.

Today Extra’s David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys will take on the primary hosting duties when they first go on leave, and Samantha Armytage will take over from mid-December alongside Nova radio host Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli 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, before Karl and Sarah come back on Monday, January 19.

Karl and Sarah will both be returning to the desk in 2026. Photo: Channel 9

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.”

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.

Viewers speculated at the time that the brief stint was in preparation for a larger role on Today; however, it’s clear that that won’t happen for a while, if ever.