Samantha Armytage has shot her way up the Nine ladder just weeks after it was announced the network snapped her up following her departure from Seven.
The TV presenter, 48, will become a ‘fill in’ on Today while regular hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo go on leave over summer.
Once the host of Seven’s rival breakfast show Sunrise, Sam will be co-hosting with Weekend Today star Clint Stanaway, reported The Daily Telegraph on Sunday.
The journalist will ‘wake up with Today’ for a week and a half, putting her eight years anchor experience at Sunrise (2013-2021) to good use in the rival hot seat.
An insider went on to say Sam’s move into the highly sought-after position has ruffled feathers among other experienced women in the network.
They suggested some employees are stunned that Nine veterans like Sylvia Jeffreys, who is currently the co-host of Today Extra, were looked over for the position.
Samantha Armytage, 48, (pictured) has shot her way up the Nine ladder just weeks after it was announced the network snapped her up following her departure from Seven
‘Eyebrows have been raised as there are women who have been at that network for decades… who have been overlooked for this role,’ the source said.
‘There are also concerns for Sarah Abo, who could feel intimidated by Sam keeping her seat warm.’
However, it seems Sam was initially reluctant to take on the role, with the insider claiming Nine’s head of TV Michael Healy was behind the push to get her on Today.
The same day reports emerged about the move, Sam penned an article for The Daily Telegraph, talking about the huge changes happening in her life right now.
‘I’ve loved and lost. I’ve laughed and cried. And I’ve laughed until I’ve cried, which occasionally as a woman gets older means a little bit of wee comes out,’ she said.
‘I’m stronger, yet more vulnerable. I have learnt discernment, acceptance and patience (to a degree).
‘I’ve come to a very content place in the river, where I’m happy with the person I’ve grown into and excited about the adventures that are lying ahead upstream.’
A Nine spokesperson told Daily Mail : ‘Today’s summer hosting schedule will be confirmed soon.’
Sam was originally the host of Sunrise, alongside David Koch (right), from 2013 to 2021
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Daily Mail has also reached out to representatives of Sam for comment.
It comes just a few weeks after Sam revealed what it was like to ‘divorce’ her long-term employer Seven and jump ship to rival network Nine.
The former Farmer Wants A Wife host quit Seven after 21 years and fled to Nine where she will now host The Golden Bachelor .
Opening up about the shock move to the Kyle and Jackie O Show earlier this month, the former Sunrise star said Nine have been ‘very welcoming’.
Shock jock host Kyle Sandilands kicked off the interview with a very direct question: ‘What was that like when you cheated [on Seven]? Was it hard to cheat?’
As Sam laughed off the comment, Kyle, 53, added: ‘Did Channel Nine take you out and romance you with the dinners and the limousines?’
The TV personality smoothly side-stepped the question and responded: ‘Channel Nine, they have been very welcoming. Very welcoming indeed.
‘It’s been a really nice move for me and a very good fresh start at this age.’
The TV presenter will become a ‘fill in’ on Today while regular hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo (both pictured) go on leave over summer
She continued: ‘We’re all getting older… As you get older, you’re looking for something different. You want to have a fresh start at this point in life.’
Sam also revealed to 2GB’s Ben Fordham why she left Sunrise back in 2021 after eight years as co-anchor on the breakfast show.
‘Look, I just had enough. I’ve done it for a long time. You know what those hours are like, it is quite gruelling,’ she said.
Sam added she ‘used to get a lot of attention’ from Sunrise, which was becoming ‘pretty full on’.
‘I just needed a break,’ she continued.
‘The time was right and life had changed. I just got married, my mum had died, everything had changed and I knew the time was right.
‘I’d had enough, and you know I like a good horse metaphor—I’d ridden it to the top, I’d done all I could do and it was a good time to step out.’
After 21 years at Seven, Sam jumped ship to Nine and, after much speculation, was confirmed as the host of reality dating show The Golden Bachelor.