Katy Perry's TV stunt in Australia also wasn't live

Katy Perry co-hosting Sunrise. Photo / Twitter

By Bronte Coy.

Landing pop megastar Katy Perry as a co-host was quite a coup for Sunrise, but has come with an awkward catch: everyone knows she's already left the country.

Last night, Channel Nine was embarrassingly caught in a lie after spruiking Perry's "live performance" during The Voice grand finale - only for the Mail Online to publish photos of the star boarding a flight at Sydney Airport an hour earlier.

Understandably, this put Sunrise in a bit of a pickle today as they continued advertising this morning's fourth co-host.

Before the show went to air, their Twitter announced proudly that they'd be "live with special guest co-host Katy Perry".

Happy Monday! We're live on @channel7 - special guest co-host @KatyPerry is joining us SOON! 🎉 Watch LIVE | https://t.co/9lRDdcYOjV #sun7 pic.twitter.com/T9tpoHfk0g

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 2, 2017

32-year-old Perry "arrived on set" just after 7am, and taking her seat among hosts David Koch and Sam Armytage at the desk, exclaimed: "Let's deliver some news! Good news, I hope."

Cue an awkward pause from her interviewers - there would be no news read during Perry's segment, given it was filmed days in advance.

Another cringeworthy moment arose during a meet-and-greet on the show, where the star clearly forgot what day it was "supposed" to be, telling a fan in the audience: "Let's make your Saturday!"

Despite those gaffes, Channel Seven had clearly gone to great lengths to slot the prerecorded segments into the live show as seamlessly as possible.

Photos taken of the hosts with Perry during the taping were dated to the 1st of July, and showed them wearing the same outfits they again donned on Monday morning.

When contacted by news.com.au, a Seven spokesman confirmed the pop star's segment was pre-recorded last week: "Katy Perry has recorded her portions of the show. We let fans know that last week, by inviting them to come down and see her during her appearance."

Sunrise executive producer Michael Pell defended the program this morning, tweeting that "We recorded her bits on the weekend, which we made well known all last week."

Big thanks to @katyperry for co-hosting @sunriseon7. We recorded her bits on the weekend, which we made well known all last week. pic.twitter.com/Vp32a4sExF

— Michael Pell (@MichaelPell) July 2, 2017