Ok. i found a solution was to set the whole cell first (thus setting the accessory view too) and then set the content view which will be on top.
cell.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:255.0/255.0 green:228.0/255.0 blue:157.0/255.0 alpha:0.25];
cell.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0.0/255.0 green:0.0/255.0 blue:0.0/255.0 alpha:0.25];