Karl Stefanovic says he will retire from Today Show before working with Samantha Armytage

Karl Stefanovic has put rumours to rest about any likelihood of Samantha Arytage taking Sarah Abo's hosting seat beside him on Today. 

The TV veteran, 50, told Stellar magazine he would sooner retire from helming the flagship breakfast program than work alongside anyone else. 

'I don’t see Sarah ever being replaced. And I genuinely have no interest in working with anyone else,' Stefanovic said on Sunday in the wide-ranging interview. 

Channel Nine was reportedly plunged into back-to-back crisis meetings in December, following the decision to bring Armytage onto the Today show as a summer fill-in co-host.

The network's move sparked outrage among long-time staff, with insiders alleging the decision created tension behind the scenes and left many feeling snubbed.

Sarah Abo replaced longtime host Ally Langdon on Today in January 2023, and according to Stefanovic, he has no interest in being one half of any further hosting re-brands.

Stefanovic has been with the breakfast show for 20 years and in that time has seen many co-hosts - including Tracy Grimshaw, Jessica Rowe, and Lisa Wilkinson - come and go.  

'In this game, there’s stuff you have control of and there’s stuff you don’t. At any point on any given day, I can be replaced. The show is bigger than I am,' he said.

'That’s not a slight on Sam. I’ve done 20 years, and I don’t know about going through all that with another person. I’m closer to the end than the start. That’s the reality.' 

All eyes were on the defected Channel Seven star over the summer holidays, as Sam warmed up the hosting seat for a two-week fill-in stint alongside weatherman Dan Astley. 

'There have been crisis meetings back-to-back since Sam was signed,' a source told Woman's Day in December. 

Meanwhile, a well-placed source told Daily Mail Australia that Nine had a strategic reasoning behind Sam's appointment.

'Let's not pretend this isn't about ratings,' they said. 

'If Sam manages to pull Today out of the shadow of Sunrise, even for a week, the network will see it as a win. For Sam, it's about proving she's still the queen of breakfast TV.' 

According to the OzTam ratings, most viewers were still tuning into Sunrise - Armytage's old stomping ground - during her fill-in stint on Today. 

New kid on the block David Woiwod has been co-hosting with Monique Wright and on December 18 pulled in 979,000 total viewers to Today's 754,000. 

The dynamic duo extended their lead the following day, claiming victory with 980,000 viewers to just 749,000. 

'Everyone was talking about Sam being on Today... but no one was watching,' an inside source told Daily Mail's Inside Mail that week. 

'Meanwhile, the ratings for [Sunrise hosts] Woiwod and Mon have been amazing - it shows people are ready for something fun and new. Sam's very much yesterday's hero.'

'It's all been a bit of a trainwreck, all the publicity and dramas that they've cooked up around Sam, and yet people genuinely just aren't that interested,' one well-placed Sunrise told Daily Mail. 

Sarah Abo was recruited to 60 Minutes in 2019, bucking the trend of internal appointments to Nine's coveted breakfast show. 

The 37-year-old moved from  Melbourne to Adelaide, back to Melbourne, and then Sydney, from Ten to SBS to Nine — to establish her name and reputation to score the hosting gig alongside Stefanovic. 

Stefanovic described himself as 'so fortunate' to be working alongside Abo.