WATCH: News presenter’s hilarious reaction when she was caught 'daydreaming' on-air

MELBOURNE: An Australian news presenter was caught ‘daydreaming’ on-air when the camera panned on her contrary to her assumption that the transmission was on break.

Natasha Exelby’s reaction to being caught day dreaming on ABC News 24 shows that even the most measured professional can be left flapping by the unexpected.

The news reader seemed to have briefly forgotten where she was when directors cut back to the studio from a pre-recorded package recently.

The Australian looked lost in thought as she stared at her pen before suddenly jolting into action when she realised she’s on air.

Her gasp is so pronounced that some have even argued it’s fake, although Media Watch, who shared the footage online, claim it isn’t.

In 2013, while working at Channel 10, she was forced to apologise after laughing while presenting news reports about tragic accidents.

Here’s the video

That feeling when you’re caught daydreaming at work 🙂 (via @UmmRKSZ ) #mediawatch pic.twitter.com/lRkTbpygfo

— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) April 9, 2017