Today co-host Sarah Abo has hired a top celebrity accountant with links to Karl Stefanovic in a bid to head off Samantha Armytage’s reported play for her job.

Sarah Abo has hired a top celebrity accountant to help her finalise her Today show contract, amid reports Samantha Armytage could replace her.

The 39-year-old journalist recently enlisted the help of high-profile account Anthony Bell to handle negotiations with Nine executives as her six-figure contract hangs in the balance, Sunday Confidential reported.

Bell is friends with Abo’s Today co-host Karl Stefanovic.

His LinkedIn profile states he has been CEO of finance firm Bell Partners for close to 30 years.

The accountant married cricketer Damien Martyn’s ex-wife Annika at a celerity studded ceremony in the Sunshine Coast last November.

Stefanovic and his wife Jasmine were amoung stars who attended the nuptials at Yandina Station, which boasts panoramic views overlooking Mount Coolum.

Bell was previously married to Getaway star Kelly Landry, with whom he shares two daughters, for 10 years before the pair divorced in December 2021.

His latest assignment for Abo marks the first time the TV host has retained formal representation throughout her 15-year career.

Anthony and Annika Bell pictured looking loved up in Italy. Picture: Instagram
It’s understood she and Stafanovic are yet to sign their contracts; however, sources close to the breakfast duo say “the deal is all but done”.

It comes as Abo is gunning for a bumper pay increase from her current $800,000 a year, a whopping $2 million less than Stefanovic, despite the pair working the same job and hours.

Her relationship with Nine has reportedly shifted in recent weeks amid chatter Armytage could swipe her job to supplant Channel Seven’s Sunrise as Australia’s most popular breakfast show.

Abo’s position at the network remains unclear, with Nine CEO Matt Stanton tight-lipped on whether she could be at Nine in the new year.

“I suspect so,” Mr Stanton told The Australian.

Samantha Armytage could replace Today co-host Sarah Abo (right). Picture: Don Arnold/WireImage

Samantha Armytage could swipe Abo’s job to supplant Channel Seven’s Sunrise as Australia’s most popular breakfast show. Picture: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images for TV WEEK Logies Awards
He was even less forthcoming about the Stefanovic-Armytage team-up, saying he doesn’t “know” about the claims.

“I’m not into that level, to be honest. I haven’t seen that level of detail,” he said of the reshuffle.

Abo is feeling the pressure and is “absolutely gutted” by the possibility of being replaced by the ex-Sunrise presenter, an insider told Woman’s Day.

“If it is true that management have been the driving force behind getting Sam Armytage to replace her, then she feels all her hard work to make this job work has gone down the drain – it’s like the worst type of betrayal,” the source said.

“She feels completely blindsided – going back, she never even wanted this job, but they convinced her she was the right person for the role.”

Abo joined Today in 2023, replacing outgoing co-host Allison Langdon.

Armytage sat on the Sunrise couch alongside David Koch from 2013 until 2021, during which Sunrise consistently led the morning TV wars against rival Today.

She defected from Seven to Nine last October, where she is the host of the new TV show, The Golden Bachelor.