Stop press: Robert Hughes is not dead, he’s in a London court facing child s-xual and indecent assault charges.

Say what? Oh, it’s the star of Hey Dad!, the once-famous Australian actor whose nerd-glasses and hangdog haircut dominated Australian television in the late ’80s and early ’90s, who was arrested in London yesterday and later appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court.

He’s accused of 11 offences against five girls, between the ages of six and 15, between 1985-1990, when he was the star of the 267-episode terrible sitcom. At least one of his accusers was a Hey Dad! star — Sarah Monahan, who played his daughter on the show.

Hughes had been the subject of a two-year investigation by NSW police (following a series of A Current Affair tell-alls in 2010). He had claimed he was willing to return to Australia and answer the accusations — however, he spent much of his time shuttling between Singapore (where he works as a voice-over artist) and London.

He is, however, the husband of Sydney uber-agent Robyn Gardiner, whose clients include Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne, directors such as Daniel Nettheim and authors Melina Marchetta and Fiona Wood.

In 2010, RGM opened an office in Singapore and attempted an IPO via complex backdoor deal. Gardiner now lives in the UK, as the principal acting agent for her company, which remains based in Sydney. One suspects that Hughes’ jet-setting lifestyle — in London he lives in Belgravia, the most exclusive district in the capital — has more to do with his wife’s corporate success than with the lucrative Singapore voice-over market.

Hughes was held for several hours yesterday before the hearing. He was released on bail, with the instruction not to be in the sole company of under-16-year-olds. He will get a full extradition hearing on September 19, and the full process is likely to take several months. The Australian government’s lawyers opposed bail, arguing Hughes was a proven flight risk, so the court added an electronic ankle bracelet and curfew to his conditions.

Bleakly humorously, or otherwise, RGM’s website is spruiking a project by its latest hot property, Ryan Kwanten, in a film called Not Suitable For Children. The strapline? “He never wanted to have kids, until life kicked him where it counts.” As I said, or otherwise.