ABC News presenter shocked to realise she's still on air

An ABC news presenter has cemented her place on the Christmas bloopers tape after an amusingly overblown reaction when she was caught napping live on air.

Natasha Exelby seemed to have forgotten where she was for a moment or two during a late bulletin last week when the directors cut back to the studio at the end of a prerecorded package.

Exelby, furrowed of brow, seemed to be deep in thought as she scrutinised her pen as if it were some rare, ancient artifact.

But the host came back to reality with a jolt and an almighty, cartoonish gasp that seemed to last almost as long as her reverie, before she quickly threw to the sport presenter.

In fact Exelby's shock was so pronounced that that some who viewed the clip on Media Watch's Facebook page suggested the blooper was staged.

A person using the watchdog's account, however, insisted that the slip-up was legit.