Samantha Armytage has been announced as a fill-in host for Sarah Abo on the Today show over the Christmas break.
The TV veteran, 49, will be co-hosting the Channel Nine breakfast show during the festive season alongside Nova radio host Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
Kicking off the holiday period are Today Extra’s David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys before Samantha and Wippa take over in mid-December.
Alison Piotrowski, Dr Nick Coatsworth, Joel Dry and Jayne Azzopardi will then take the lead from the beginning of January.
Sarah and her co-host Karl Stefanovic will return to the Today show desk on January 19.
It comes after Samantha recently addressed rumours she’s set to replace Sarah and feature alongside Karl on the Today show.
Samantha Armytage (pictured) has been announced as a fill-in host for Sarah Abo on the Today Show over the Christmas break
The TV personality appeared on 2GB with Ben Fordham last month, where she was asked about the growing speculation that she would be returning to breakfast TV.
‘Ben, you know how this game works — these stories get planted, leaked,’ she began, before revealing that she had bumped into Sarah and comforted her in the wake of the headlines.
‘Sarah’s wonderful… I saw her at Upfronts – at Nine Upfronts – the other night.
‘We gave each other a hug and I said, “Are you okay?”
‘She’s good. Sarah and Karl are fantastic,’ Sam added of the current Today lineup.
A bombshell report was recently released that alleged Samantha was in secret talks to replace Sarah and become Karl’s new co-host on the Today show.
A Nine insider told Daily Mail some staff members were ‘terrified’ of the former Sunrise star joining the breakfast show line-up — and that Sarah was fuming at how the network has handled the situation.
It comes after Samantha recently addressed rumours she’s set to replace Sarah (right) and feature alongside Karl (left) on the Today show
According to a senior TV insider, Nine was battling an in-house divide, with some staff members hopeful that Samantha would increase the breakfast show’s audience against Seven, while others feared she might be difficult to work with behind the scenes.
‘There’s a big team split at Nine,’ the source said. ‘Junior staff on Today are terrified to work for Sam because of her reputation for being a bit difficult at Sunrise.
‘The more senior people get it. They think that she will bring in new audience… and Today needs it.
‘But they’re also concerned that Sam and Karl will blow each other up with their egos.’
