Peter Ford

Peter Ford is an Australian entertainment reporter.

He is known for his many regular live appearances on radio stations and television programs in Australia and New Zealand. He has recalled waiting outside a local newsagency for the latest issues of entertainment magazines and would attend the opening of shopping centres to see celebrities.

On television, Ford has a regular spot on The Morning Show and has provided commentary to programs such as Sunrise, A Current Affair, Studio 10 and 20 to 1. Ford said he had informed 2UE management that he would refuse to appear on Carlton's program following the incident. Ford told 3AW listeners Smith was in a critical condition in a Honduras hospital following a suicide attempt involving a gun. When it was deemed the story wasn't genuiune, Ford returned to the air several minutes later to admit that it was wrong and apologised. Ford had told 3BA in Ballarat that a magazine interview was about to be published about their relationship, before following it up with a tweet, prompted other media outlets in Australia and overseas to republish the claim. However, that afternoon the story was being reported as untrue with Martin's management claiming that Martin and Thorpe had never met. Ford admitted he had sourced the information from an anonymous tip to 6PR in Perth from someone using the pseudonym Sir Rumour, who had previously tipped the station off about Thorpe's "coming out" interview with Michael Parkinson.

In March 2015, Ford questioned Chrissie Swan's participation on the first season of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! stating "Not sure what it says about society that we reward a mother who leaves a 1 year old baby to chase fame". Ford's comments were met with considerable criticism.

Ford was accused of "blatant biphobia" by a newspaper columnist in 2016 after comments he made on The Morning Show about Amber HeardIn May 2016, Ford was criticised in The Sydney Morning Herald by commentator Jenny Noyes who accused Ford of "blatant biphobia" after he made comments on The Morning Show when he said it "was not wise to marry a bisexual". Ford appeared to take issue with Amber Heard's sexuality after she made allegations of domestic violence against Johnny Depp. Ford said it had been explained to him that "just because a person is bisexual... if they commit into a relationship, the evidence is there that there's no more or less chance that it's going to fail just because one person in the relationship is bisexual." Ford asked her: "Have you told her how you feel or do you just play it out on Twitter". Shelly described the act as "Creepy. Entitled. Weird. Not ok.’"

2020s In February 2020, Ford apologised to former Hey Hey It's Saturday host Daryl Somers. Ford had claimed during the 6PR breakfast program with Basil Zempilas that Somers had been fired from hosting a 2019 Carols by Candlelight event in Ballarat reportedly due to outrageous demands. Somers took issue with Ford's comments claiming that it was unlikely a Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion show would eventuate due to animosity amongst the cast but then praised Hey Hey during an appearance on A Current Affair. Chopra took offense to Ford's comments and responded by sharing a video detailing her filmography, providing a link to her IMDb page and writing: "Would love your thoughts on what qualifies someone. Here are my 60+ film credentials for your adept consideration @mrpford".

Also in March 2021, Ford's regular segments were dropped from Adelaide radio station FIVEaa. This decision came about after an on air conversation between himself and Jeremy Cordeaux in which Cordeaux described Brittany Higgins, who alleges she was raped at Parliament House, as a "silly little girl who got drunk". Ford said in a statement that he didn't subscribe to Cordeaux's comments and he had disagreed with them on air by describing Higgins as "admirable" but it wasn't his place to demand a radio host agree with his own opinions. Ford said Jones was recovering from having multiple surgeries and accused Fitzsimmons of being "a bully in exactly the same way he accuses Alan of being".

In October 2024, Ford twice referred to Victorian independent Senator Lidia Thorpe as a skank in since-deleted posts on X, following her heckle of King Charles III during his visit to Australia, doubling down on the comment after being called out as misogynistic.

Personal life Despite his frequent appearances on radio and television, Ford rarely gives interviews about himself. He gave two rare interviews in 2017 - one to industry website radioinfo and one to the Remember When? radio program on 3AW. Ford's list consisted of Bert Newton, Mike Walsh, Mickie de Stoop, Anne Wills and Peter Faiman. After Newton's death, Ford revealed that Newton had donated one of his Gold Logies to one of Ford's friends who was a terminally-ill AIDS patient at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in 1990.