Label in UITableViewCell blocking background

Question

I'm having an issue with the label inside of my UITableViewCell blocking the background image. It seems as though it only happens on the unselected state. I tried setting the background colors to clear but that didn't do it. It's adopting the tableview's background color. Do I have to set the labels background image too?

// Neither of these worked...
cell.textLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
cell.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];

Here is my cellForRowAtIndexPath

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"SimpleTableIdentifier"];
    if (cell == nil)
    {
        cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:@"SimpleTableIdentifier"] autorelease];
    }

    UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"TableRow.png"];
    UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:image];
    imageView.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleToFill;
    cell.backgroundView = imageView;
    [imageView release];

    UIImage *imageSelected = [UIImage imageNamed:@"TableRowSelected.png"];
    UIImageView *imageViewSelected = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:imageSelected];
    imageViewSelected.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleToFill;
    cell.selectedBackgroundView = imageViewSelected;
    [imageViewSelected release];


    cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator;
    cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    cell.textLabel.text = [[self.trivia.questionsets objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKeyPath:@"title"];

    return cell;
}

UPDATE: Kinda resolved...

If i set the background color of the table (which I assumed would be beneath everything) to clear, then all of a sudden my image shows where i expect, but the table background now shows over top of everything? Is this the expected behavior? (Haven't checked the docs on this yet)

tableView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
cell.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor orangeColor];
cell.textLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor yellowColor];

...and to finish, if I set both the table and cell's background colors to clear, we're good. the textlabel background color makes no difference.

tableView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
cell.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
cell.textLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor yellowColor];

Answer 1

Yeah it is expected behaviour.

Your tableview is a subview that sits in front of everything else. If something was in front of the tableview (ie the background), it would obscure the table.