Sarah Abo has revealed how she feels about the rumours swirling that she was going to be replaced by Samantha Armytage on the Today Show.
Towards the end of last year, concerns grew for Sarah, 40, after Sam, 49, moved to Channel Nine and temporarily took on hosting duties on Today when Sarah was on leave over the summer.
In October, The Australian claimed that Nine was looking at its hosting roster in a bid to try and win the ratings war against its rival Sunrise.
Then, reports began to circulate that Samantha might also be taking over as co-host alongside Karl Stefanovic, with some fans threatening to switch off if the rumours were true.
However, Sarah is here to stay.
When asked by Stellar what she thought about Karl telling the publication he didn’t see her being replaced, and he wasn’t interested in speaking with anyone else, she gave her honest thoughts.
“I’ve never been able to answer that question in terms of where I see myself in five to 10 years,” she told Stellar.
“The only way I can answer that is to say that I love what I’m doing now.
“If I still feel this way about it in five or 10 years, then I still want to be doing that job, right? Genuinely, there’s no way you’d be waking up at 3am if you didn’t love what you do and you didn’t love who you work with.”
She also spoke about her love of working with Karl, and their “really close bond”.
“He’s obviously had quite a number of co-hosts. I was thinking about this the other day, actually, as I’m going into my fourth year,” she said.
“I’ll be the longest-serving Today co-host since Lisa Wilkinson. I kind of just sat with that for a second. I was like, OK, I’m stepping into something a bit different, a bit new now. And I’m stepping into it with Karl by my side. And that’s really special.”
What does Samantha Armytage think about the rumours?
Samantha Armytage broke her silence about the rumours in October 2025, hours before The Golden Bachelor Australia aired.
Speaking on The Kyle & Jackie O Show, Sam told Kyle that she had not approached by the network about the job.
“And you know rumours. Kyle, you know how this game works,” she said.
“No one said it. You know, obviously, this week has been busy because I’m, you know, doing lots of publicity for the show. So, I think it’s kind of, you know, it’s gone hand in glove that there’s a chant about that after Golden Bachelor.
When asked if she’d hypothetically step into that role, Sam said she wouldn’t answer that. However, she said she was “really happy” in prime time.
“This is what I came to Channel Nine for,” she said.
When the hosts joked that she started a feud, she shut it down.
“No, I think Karl and Sarah are fabulous,” she said. “No, but this is where it’s at for me. I’m really happy. This is my show. It’s on air tonight. Finally. It’s been a few months because we filmed earlier in the year, so it’s been a long time to get here.”
Channel Nine speaks out
Before this, Channel Nine also dismissed the intense rumours by confirming that Sarah will return to Today alongside Karl in 2026.
The news was announced at the Nine Upfronts on October 15, where the broadcaster’s slate of programming for the 2026 season was unveiled.
Today will continue to be a morning staple on the network in 2026 with Karl and Sarah at the helm, alongside a string of other presenters – though none include Sunrise veteran Sam.
Jayne Azzopardi is covering the news, while Renee Bargh and Richard Wilkins continue on entertainment, with Danika Mason covering sports.
Tim Davies also returned as the show’s weather presenter, while Today Extra continues with hosts Sylvia Jeffreys and David Campbell.
Though Sam did not join Today, she took on hosting responsibilities on The Golden Bachelor, which aired on October 20, 2025.
Just hours before Upfronts, Sam excitedly revealed she was entering a “new era” in her career after moving from Channel Seven to Nine.
“A new era is about to arrive,” she gushed on Instagram, alongside a photograph of her hosting The Golden Bachelor.
Sam’s big move to Channel Nine sparked speculation that she will sign on to other major shows on the network.
Fans shared their thoughts
The replacement rumours circulated after Sam stepped in to front Today over the summer break alongside weather presenter Dan Astley, while Karl and Sarah were on leave.
Despite it being short-lived, her appearance generated a spike in ratings and a favourable response from regular viewers of the show who took to social media to ask the Nine Network to have her on co-hosting duties full-time.
“Sam is great! I’m watching Today again now,” one fan wrote at the time.
Speaking exclusively with New Idea at the time, an insider source revealed that Sam had made it “very clear” she wanted to step into the position full-time if Sarah ever vacated it.
“Sam has all the top dogs at Nine wrapped around her little finger, thanks to her holiday performance,” they added.
Despite being on rival networks for years, Karl and Sam have always enjoyed a close bond, having shared a talent manager and attending each other’s birthday celebrations.
Karl has even taken to social media to defend Sam against trolls and referred to her as his “sister” in interviews – actions he never took for his female colleagues at Today.
It was previously claimed that Sarah was in the throes of renegotiating her current $800k contract, which The Australian has previously reported is significantly less than Karl’s mammoth $2.8m – despite the duo working the same hours and performing the same duties.
Sarah also spoke about the fascination with her salary to Stellar.
“I find it really weird, because I’ve always approached my job as a responsibility to the public,” she said.
“So I still don’t fully understand why people are interested in that side of it.
“It can be silly. I think there are much bigger things going on in people’s lives – in our lives – beyond the comparisons of pay or with other shows or ratings. At the end of the day, we try and do the best job that we can.”
