“Cut-Price Karl” No More! Samantha Armytage SABOTAGES Co-Host’s Debut in a Desperate Last-Minute Panic!
A potential Today host was dumped from a pre-planned stint on the show after Samantha Armytage put a word in.
Joel Dry was sensationally booted from his planned week-long stint on the Today Show and, according to reports, Samantha Armytage had something to do with it.
The Australian’s Media Diary revealed on Monday that the aspiring breakfast show host was dumped “at the last minute” after his would-be co-star expressed her concerns about his “suitability” for the coveted role.
The Brisbane-based presenter was reportedly locked in to host Nine’s flagship breakfast program alongside Armytage on Monday, a week-long gig that would have doubled as his first on-air screen test for the position once held by Karl Stefanovic.
Joel Dry was sensationally booted from his week-long stint on the Today Show and, according to reports, Samantha Armytage had something to do with it. Picture: Instagram
He was, instead, replaced by Allison Langdon’s husband, Mike Willesee Jr, who has been helming the show over the past week.
Furthermore, the publication adds that the last-minute cancellation would no doubt have been a hard pill to swallow for Dry, who network insiders say was so sure he would be chosen by Nine’s TV director Michael Healy for the role that he was already planning on negotiating his new pay.
Sources told Diary that Dry was prepared to agree to a $500,000 annual salary, a mere sixth of what Stefanovic was raking in during his tenure on the Today Show desk and only half of what Sarah Abo was making before going on maternity leave.
However, according to Diary, he was informed late last week that he would no longer be needed in the Sydney studio after Armytage indicated that she wasn’t keen on co-hosting with a “cut-price Karl”.
Samantha Armytage attends a Ralph Lauren lunch at the Ralph Lauren Private Hospitality Suite at the Australian Open 2026 at Melbourne Park on January 23, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
Nine’s decision to act on Armytage’s say-so hints at their hopes for the Golden Bachelor host to helm the Today Show on a more long-term basis.
However, Armytage was left red-faced on her first day hosting the breakfast program, with the TV star’s phone alarm going off while she was live on air.
Monday’s broadcast opened with a number of news bulletins before cutting back to Armytage and her co-host Willesee at the Today desk, where she could be seen frantically grasping her phone.
“Good morning! Happy Monday. It’s all happening – my alarm just went off on my phone because this is the time I normally get up,” Armytage shared, finding the humour in the awkward gaffe.
Samantha Armytage and Mike Willesee Jr co-host the Today Show. Picture: Nine
Her co-host joked back: “Her alarm, right on the start time of the show. Just to remind Sam that she had to be on the show this morning.”
Armytage and Willesee are currently standing in for former hosts Abo, who welcomed her first child, Sonny, last week, and Stefanovic, who was axed after his controversial sit-down with Tommy Robinson on his eponymous podcast.
However, the network is yet to announce a long-term replacement for the duo.