Play School fans sure do put up with a lot. The long-running children’s show has seen a constant revolving door of presenters, the shelving of the rocket clock and, of course, multiple Logie losses to Agro’s Cartoon Connection in the 1990s.

However, The Australian may have gone a step too far this morning, when it splashed Play School mainstay Rhys Muldoon right across the front page as Kevin Rudd’s “trusted insider”.

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Cornflakes were being spat out at breakfast tables across the country, as Christian Kerr recounted the many times the pair have been seen together.

According to Kerr, Muldoon was invited to the 2020 Summit, attended church with the prime minister and was even present during the “final tumultuous day of Rudd’s reign”:

“While even ministers struggled for face time with the prime minister, there was one man, one trusted adviser, who could break through the self-imposed cordon.”

To us, it just sounds like the pair were simply good friends, a bit of a rare exception in the ‘Kevin no mates’ narrative that has defined the former PM’s post-mortem, but to The Oz it was a certified rolled-gold scoop.

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To make matters worse, the children’s television icon was snapped smoking a cigarette in a shady Underbelly-esque pose that would have made Mick Gatto proud. In another happy coincidence, the story was run on the very day that Rudd was accused of leaking details to Laurie Oakes about a supposed handover “deal” with Julia Gillard.

As Crikey was still trying to come to terms with the front page treatment, Kerr’s News Limited colleague Ben Packham was tweeting his praise of the story:

“Great yarn by Christian Kerr today. As factions and colleagues deserted him, Rudd sought the company of playschool host.”

To say that Rudd “sought the company” of Muldoon is loaded with several connotations, but it captures the creepy vibe of Kerr’s yarn perfectly:

“A dinner followed and a friendship began. It continued when Rudd became prime minister. The pair met and talked, as friends do.”

Here at Crikey we’re glad to hear that the former PM has mates, even if The Oz can’t quite believe it. Good luck Kevin and Rhys, may your bromance live on.