Today I can reveal exclusive details of a scandal that’s about to embroil the Seven Network and some of its biggest stars.

This morning police and officers from the RSPCA raided the Seven studios in Sydney where they interviewed and arrested several staff for alleged animal cruelty and underpayment offences involving the Cash Cow from its Sunrise breakfast program.

Hosts of the popular show, David Koch and Natalie Barr are among those facing charges.

I can report exclusively that the raid and arrests follow an extensive undercover police operation that revealed that the popular breakfast show’s Cash Cow was in fact a cow. (main picture)

A Seven Network insider told me that the Cash Cow has been off-air for many months as a result of changes made by Telstra to its premium 1900 number services such as that used by Sunrise.

“The premium numbers enable the mugs,…..err I mean viewers to be charged for ringing in or sending an SMS to participate in on-air competitions like the ones fronted by the Cash Cow,” the insider said. “The revenue from the charges is split between Telstra and Sunrise and we then use the money we receive to fund the Cash Cow prizes won by viewers.”

The insider said the Cash Cow had been taken off air while the Seven network reworked its competitions and it was widely believed within the network that while off air the Cash Cow herself had inadvertently sparked the police and RSPCA probe.

“Naturally the carpet strollers responsible for reworking the on-air contests have taken forever not to do anything constructive which meant the Cash Cow was at a loose end,” the insider said.

“But even with nothing to do on air she was still required to turn up to the studio each morning even though she wasn’t being paid. She’s actually never been paid because, well she’s a fucking cow. The network thought nothing of it.

“But being off air and at a loose end every day soon got boring and she started to drink heavily.

“That led to more drinks after the show finished each day and a pub crawl on her way home by an Uber to the dairy farm where she lives at Camden south-west of Sydney.

“At some pub along the way or maybe in the Uber she’s been talking too much and it’s only natural that stories soon started spreading and reached the ears of authorities.”

No comment was available from the Seven Network because I couldn’t be arsed to ring them.