'Wazeem Hussaly' joins The Project

New Project host Waleed Aly has poked fun at Fairfax Media's embarrassing photo gaffe tonight by enlisting the man he was mistaken for to open his first stint full-time on the program.

Aly had remained tight-lipped on the blunder which saw his own employer, Fairfax's The Age newspaper, accidentally run a photo of comedian Nazeem Hussain to spruik his permanent appointment to the Channel Ten show on Wednesday.

But the journalist and media commentator appeared to see the funny side tonight as the show's opening reel cut to the hosts' desk to show not Aly but Hussain in the hot seat.

"Welcome to The Project, joining me on the desk for the final show of the year is … Waleed Aly," co-host Carrie Bickmore announced, as Hussain waved to the audience.

An identically-dressed Aly then appeared and ushered the comedian away, only to be chastised by fellow host Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann who said he "preferred the other Waleed".

The embarrassing mix-up was a hot topic on the internet this week after Hussain, of SBS's Legally Brown fame, tweeted a snap of the mix up saying "Well, we are kinda the same person..."

Others also saw the funny side, with ABC host Leigh Sales tweeting: "It's so tempting to open 7.30 tonight with 'Welcome to the program, I'm Waleed Aly'."