Apple Watch No Longer Announces Notifications or Workout Buddy on AirPods

I have an Apple Watch 11, AirPods Pro 3, and an iPhone 17 Pro for context.

After upgrading to iOS 26 I've started having problems with my Apple Watch no longer announcing things when I'm wearing my AirPods. When I first upgraded to iOS26 I had an Apple Watch 10, and AirPods Pro 2. I'd go for a walking workout and initially Workout Buddy would announce the workout, one mile, rings closed, etc. I'd also receive my usual Siri notifications for incoming text messages, etc. A few weeks into the new OS, all of those notifications stopped. No Workout Buddy, no text notifications, nothing. The Airpods played music or podcasts just fine, I could use "hey Siri" to send texts or make calls if I wanted, but no notifications came through. I'd get vibrations on my wrist in my watch for texts, but that's it.

I checked to make sure announcements were on in both the phone and watch apps, rebooted phone/watch and unpaired/repaired Airpods to no avail. I removed my watch and restored it from a backup, still nothing. I then factory reset the watch, set it up as new, and that seemed to work again. During this time I upgraded to the Watch 11, and AirPods Pro 3. Now, a few months later, this is happening again. Same issue, checked all of the settings, and we're back to nothing.

I haven't seen anyone else post about this issue, and this didn't happen before iOS26. This even worked fine with the iOS26 Public Betas before the official release. Any help? I don't want to keep unpairing, resetting, and pairing new my Apple Watch every time this happens. Very frustrating as I walk a lot and depend on getting my notifications.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

-James