Series set to excite
From Underbelly to Blue Heelers, Frankie J Holden has played a cop many times in his career, but working on his latest show The Strip was a little more realistic than most.
As rumours circulate about an off-screen romance between the new Gold Coast crime drama's stars Aaron Jeffery and Vanessa Gray, Holden said the line between real life and fiction was a little blurry from the start.
Holden, who admits he doesn't watch much commercial television himself, said the cast of the Nine Network series were confronted with the seedy side of Queensland's famous beach city as soon as they arrived.
``Aaron Jeffery when he first arrived in town found a gram of coke in the lift of his hotel,'' Holden said.
``One night I walked out of my apartment and there was a very pretty girl walking out, and she was all dressed up at 5 o'clock at night, and so I said, `where are you going all dressed like that at this time of day' and she was a receptionist at this strip club down the road.
``There is all that going on in the midst of the sunshine and the sun tans.''
As for any romance between Jeffery and Gray, Holden denied any knowledge.
``Well, if that's true I'll be most upset, because Aaron and I formed a very special relationship and as far as I'm aware we weren't seeing other people,'' Holden joked.
The Strip centres on the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) _ a small and elite unit of detectives who investigate major crimes that rock the city.
Holden plays Inspector Max Nelson, the boss of the Main beach CIB.
The Strip premiered on the Nine Network last night at 8.30pm.
Rafters a hit for Seven
The Seven Network has hit ratings gold with its Tuesday night television line-up as more than two million viewers tuned in to their post-Olympics hit Packed To The Rafters.
Seven claimed the top seven most watched shows on Tuesday night, pulling a 34.4 per cent network share.
The second episode of family drama Packed To The Rafters, starring Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thompson, built on its impressive debut, attracting 2.04 million viewers.
Other Seven shows RSPCA Animal Rescue, Seven News, Find My Family, Today Tonight, Home and Away and All Saints rounded out the top seven spots in the nightly rankings.
NCIS and Australian Idol placed eighth and ninth in the nightly rankings and helped Network Ten scrape into second place with a network share of 23.7 per cent.
The series debut of Ten's new police drama Rush was watched by a respectable 1.15 million people in its 9.30pm timeslot.
Australian Idol and Rush both won their timeslots in the key demographics splits of 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54.
The Nine Network squeezed just one show into the top 10, with Two And A Half Men nabbing an audience of 1.17 million.
New love for Dannii
Dannii Minogue has started dating a former British rugby league player after meeting him on holiday in Spain.
The petite Australian singer and TV presenter is believed to have met Kris Smith, who formerly played in the English Superleague for Leeds Rhinos, Salford and Halifax, in Ibiza.