End of a casual affair

TINSELTOWN has seen the last of new Today Tonight host Anna Coren, after TV insiders confirmed the former LA correspondent for Seven has been posted to the current affairs gig permanently.

While both the network and the host declined to comment on the official appointment, Confidential sources confirmed an announcement is "imminent,'' most likely next week.

Los Angeles spies say Coren's belongings, which were left in limbo while Seven decided whether to extend the summer host's role, will now be shipped home to Sydney, where she will be based to front the show from the network's Martin Place studios.

Coren has been received well by audiences during her fourth summer stint on the show, regularly out-rating Nine's Leila McKinnon on A Current Affair and convincing Seven executives she would stabilise TT's ratings, after Naomi Robson's dramatic exit last year.

Speculation over Coren's position prompted a bitchy exchange between Seven and Nine, after it was rumoured the star had made Jana Wendt-style demands before signing on for the job.

But more telling of her TT posting was the return to Sydney of Coren's long-term, long-distance love, Nine Network cameraman Ben Hanson, who flew back into Sydney earlier this month.

He had apparently told friends he was relocating to Los Angeles to be with Coren, but then detoured to Australia for a reunion over summer.