THE DIARY

Hugh Sheridan... stripped-back approach.

Hugh Sheridan ... double agent with an agent? Photo: Steven Siewert

Nothing is ever what it seems in the murky backwaters of television, but few announcements have opened a can of conflicting worms as much as Ten's revelation last week that actor Hugh Sheridan had joined the network to host a new reality series.

Sheridan, who stars in Seven's Packed to the Rafters, was jumping ship to host a new program for Ten, a reality series about drag queens.

''It's the death of Rafters!'' the panic merchants screamed, or at least the death of his character, with Sheridan already (apparently) finished filming his last ever appearances as Ben Rafter.

This was all news to Seven, with a network spokesman saying not only was Rafters still in production, but that Sheridan's management was negotiating with the network for another season. ''The door is always open for Ben Rafter,'' a spokesman said. ''Series six is still a possibility.''

Sheridan himself was quick to reassure fans via Twitter that he had no intention of quitting as a Rafter. ''Not leaving'' he wrote repeatedly: ''Doing both'', ''Ben is going nowhere, promise'' and so on.

Perhaps, or perhaps Sheridan hadn't read his new Ten contract, which we understand limits his Rafters appearances to a handful of episodes.