Five have denied reports that they are on the brink of signing up John Leslie for a new daytime TV show.

The news follows a decision by Sky last week to pull out of a proposed new talkshow fronted by Leslie.

"We have no plans to work with John Leslie at the moment," said a statement from Five yesterday.

Carlton executive Nick Bullen insisted he was about to sign up Leslie for a Five show however, promising that "he'll be back."