Tom Gleeson caused an uproar last week when he formally announced he would no longer be the host of ABC's Hard Quiz. But the public broadcaster has since disputed his 'statement', sparking rumours that Tom's decision to 'leave' may just a publicity stunt for the upcoming Logie Awards. 'Tom's statement that he's sacked himself from Hard Quiz is news to us, particularly as we have 10 new episodes airing later this year,' an ABC spokesperson said. 'Sounds like Tom needs to have a good old HARD chat with himself.' Did Tom Gleeson troll Australia? ABC disputed the comedian's claims that Hard Quiz was cancelled - as rumours swirl it's all just a publicity stunt for the Logie Awards The ABC also confirmed that Hard Chat is set to continue, with or without Tom as host, and is currently casting for new contestants. On Sunday, Tom was announced as a nominee for the Gold Logie, the top prize at the annual TV Week Logie Awards. After the news broke, the 44-year-old comedian tweeted that he will 'un-axe' himself as host of Hard Chat if he wins the award. Hmm: An ABC spokesman said: 'Tom's statement that he has sacked himself from Hard Quiz is news to us, particularly as we have 10 new episodes airing later this year' All a big prank? Tom added fuel to rumours that his departure was a publicity stunt when he said he will 'un-axe' himself from Hard Chat if he wins the Gold Logie he was nominated for on Sunday 'I'M UP FOR THE GOLD LOGIE! Last year proved you can only win if you don't have a show. That's why I axed myself,' he wrote on Twitter on Monday, referencing Grant Denyer's victory last year after his show, Family Feud, was cancelled by Channel 10. 'When I win Gold, I promise I will un-axe #HardQuiz immediately. Please forgive me HARD! Voting opens June 24. #Gleeson4Gold #tvweeklogies.' He made similar remarks to News.com.au, saying: 'I am holding Hard Quiz hostage. I have the show in my basement with a gun aimed at its head. If you do not vote for me, Hard Quiz is dead. 'If you love the show, the only way for it to stay on air is for you to vote for me to get the Gold Logie, otherwise I will deny Australia Hard Quiz.' In addition to the Gold Logie, Tom has also been nominated for Most Popular Presenter and Hard Quiz has been nominated for Most Popular Entertainment Show. Joke? The nominations come despite Tom's sudden departure from Hard Quiz, which he said was doing so he could focus solely on his stand-up comedy On Friday, Tom released a 'media statement' via Twitter claiming he had decided to leave Hard Quiz to focus on his stand-up comedy career. 'I've decided to step down as the host of Hard Quiz and discontinue production of the show,' he said. 'This was not an easy decision to make and I appreciate there are many fans of the show for which I will always be grateful. 'The demands of hosting a show has meant I was unable to spend as much time as I would like to performing stand up. I've loved making Hard Quiz and I will miss it.' Going for gold: In a similar scenario, during last years nominations, Grant Denyer (pictured) was also nominated for a Gold Logie despite his ailing Family Feud being taken off the air due to poor ratings. He went on to win Tom is known for his love-hate relationship with the Logies, often getting stuck into the celebrations despite thinking they are completely pointless. Last year, he campaigned for Grant Denyer to win the Gold Logie because he thought it would be funny if someone won despite just having their show cancelled. Speaking about his tongue-in-cheek campaign on The Project in June 2018, he said: 'I used to be angry at the Logies, because Denyer was voted for Gold... [for] a game show that has been axed due to low ratings on the third-highest rating network and I thought, "This is idiotic".' Tom explained that created the #Denyer4Gold hashtag to push the awards show to 'its most absurd extreme ever' by 'giving the Gold Logie to a guy that doesn't have a TV show'. After Grant ended up winning the top prize, he thanked Tom in his acceptance speech by saying: 'Thanks for the hard chat mate, I appreciate it'.' Denyer4Gold: Tom created the amusing #Denyer4Gold campaign in response, saying: 'Let's push the Logies to its most absurd extreme ever and give the Gold Logie to a guy that doesn't have a TV show. It's beautiful'All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility