Samantha Armytage and Amelia Adams appear to be the top candidates to replace Sarah Abo as co-host of Nine’s Today show.
Abo, 40, is set to depart the breakfast show to take maternity leave in the near future, after announcing her pregnancy live on air last week.
According to insiders, Today host Karl Stefanovic, 51, is favouring 60 Minutes reporter Adams, 43, as his new co-host.
Insiders claim that Stefanovic and Nine’s director of morning television, Steve Burling, wanted Adams to take the role ultimately filled by Abo in 2022.
Meanwhile, sources told Media Diary that Nine management’s ‘top pic’ to fill Abo’s spot is Samantha Armytage.
Former Sunrise star Armytage, 49, has long been rumoured to be headed for a co-hosting gig at Today after she defected to Channel Nine to anchor The Golden Bachelor in 2024.
Samantha Armytage and Amelia Adams appear to be the top candidates to replace Sarah Abo (right) as co-host of Nine’s Today show (Pictured with Karl Stefanovic)
Armytage, reportedly, has not yet been offered Abo’s role, but it is understood she is open to the idea.
Daily Mail has approached Nine for comment.
Speculation that Nine had planned all along to put Armytage on Today after she left Seven follows a report in The Australian last October that touted the breakfast TV star and Stefanovic as a ‘dream team’.
Nine is said to be banking on the so-called ‘Armytage effect’, which saw Sunrise score a ratings victory when Armytage joined the program in 2013.
Today has consistently lost in the breakfast TV wars against Seven’s Sunrise for over a decade.
Armytage left Sunrise in 2021 and has gone on to helm Farmer Wants A Wife and the upcoming Golden Bachelor.
Abo joined Today in 2023, replacing outgoing host Allison Langdon.
Langdon had announced her departure in 2022. She then entered the hosting role at A Current Affair, replacing long-time presenter Tracy Grimshaw.
Sources told Media Diary that Nine management’s ‘top pic’ to fill Abo’s spot is Samantha Armytage (Pictured)
According to insiders, Karl Stefanovic , 51, is favouring 60 Minutes reporter Amelia Adams, 43, (pictured) as his new co-host while his regular co-anchor Sarah Abo takes maternity leave
Abo’s recent reported push for a pay rise is said to be part of the motivation behind the potential shake-up, The Australian claimed.
Last December, Armytage made her highly anticipated return to Today after a series of guest stints.
The TV veteran took a spot on the couch for the festive season while regular hosts Stefanovic and Abo took a lengthy Christmas break.
She shared hosting duties on Today alongside Nova radio star Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli.
Meanwhile, Adams, who has been with Nine for over 16 years, has worked on Today as a newsreader and fill-in host.
She joined 60 Minutes in 2022 after winning two Kennedy Awards and was later nominated for a Walkley award for her work reporting from the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.
Adams also reported on the final year of Donald Trump’s presidency and the tumultuous 2020 US election for 9News, and covered the Black Lives Matter protests too.
She also has experience reporting from war zones in Ukraine and Iraq.
