Clarke Timothy Gayford (born 24 October 1976)
is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster, presenter of the
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
documentary show ''Fish of the Day''. He is the fiancé of New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
.
Education and career
Gayford was raised on a farm outside
Gisborne.
From the age of 11, he boarded at
Palmerston North Boys' High School
Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Location
Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central ...
. In 1995, he matriculated at
Otago University
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
,
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, to study for a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree, before transferring to the New Zealand Broadcasting School in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
.
After he graduated from broadcasting school, Gayford successfully pitched student-life show ''Cow TV'' (1999) to
Dunedin's Channel 9.
In 1999, Gayford appeared as a contestant on ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
'',
a reality television game show. In 2003, he began broadcasting on the
C4 music television channel, presenting youth programmes. In 2010, Gayford presented the third season of ''Extraordinary Kiwis'', a biographical documentary series.
Gayford also presented several radio shows, including morning and afternoon
drive time
Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this cl ...
shows on
More FM
More FM is a New Zealand radio network that plays hot adult contemporary music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand.
More FM broadcasts in 25 centres throughout New Zealand on 81 transmitters with a mix of local and network programming. ...
and
George FM
George FM is a New Zealand dance music radio station, owned and operated by MediaWorks from its Hargreaves Street headquarters and relayed on Freeview and radio frequencies around New Zealand. Its seventy-five regular presenters and additional ...
, respectively.
In 2015, with producer Mike Bhana, Gayford created fishing show ''Fish of the Day'', for
Choice TV
Eden (stylized as eden and formerly known as Choice TV) is a privately owned, national free-to-air television channel in New Zealand and has been on air since 2012. The channel features programs on topics such as: lifestyle, news, travel, reali ...
.
The documentary series is also broadcast on
National Geographic Channel, and has screened in over 35 countries.
In 2021 Gayford hosted the television show ''Moving Houses''. He made a guest appearance as himself in the first season 2 episode of ''
Wellington Paranormal
''Wellington Paranormal'' is a New Zealand mockumentary comedy horror television series which first aired on 11 July 2018 on TVNZ 2. The series is a spin-off of the 2014 film '' What We Do in the Shadows'' and first television series in the fran ...
''.
Personal life
Gayford is the eldest of three siblings.
He was previously in relationships with musician
Hollie Smith
Hollie Smith (born 17 November 1982) is a New Zealand soul singer-songwriter based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her four solo albums ''Long Player, Humour and the Misfortune of Others, Water or Gold,'' and ''Coming In From The Dark'' have all reach ...
and
Shortland Street
''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...
actress
Shavaughn Ruakere
Shavaughn Ruakere (born 3 March 1978) is a New Zealand Māori actress and television presenter. She is best known for her role as presenter on the children's TV show What Now. Shavaughn also played the role of Roimata Ngatai on the prime-time ...
.
Gayford and
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
began dating in 2013.
In August 2017, Ardern was elected as
leader of the Labour Party and, following a general election, she became
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
on 26 October 2017.
Gayford has been referred to as the
''spouse'' of the prime minister, although the couple are unmarried. He has accompanied Ardern on international visits, including the
2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, UK.
On 19 January 2018, Ardern announced that she and Gayford were expecting their first child in June. Their daughter was born on 21 June at 4:45 pm in
Auckland City Hospital.
In May 2019, it was reported that he and Ardern were engaged to be married. The wedding, scheduled for early 2022, was cancelled due to
COVID lockdowns imposed in New Zealand.
On 8 May 2022, Gayford tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
. As a result, he, Ardern and their daughter went into self-isolation for seven days. On 14 May 2022, Ardern tested positive for COVID-19.
Views and public image
In mid-April 2020, Gayford appeared on a short ''
Wellington Paranormal
''Wellington Paranormal'' is a New Zealand mockumentary comedy horror television series which first aired on 11 July 2018 on TVNZ 2. The series is a spin-off of the 2014 film '' What We Do in the Shadows'' and first television series in the fran ...
'' video encouraging people who were looking after young children during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. In response,
National Party Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
Brett Hudson
Brett Stuart Patrick Hudson (born January 18, 1953) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was the youngest member of the musical group the Hudson Brothers, which was formed by his older brothers, Mark and Bill, in 1965. He is now a ...
expressed concerns during an Epidemic Response Committee meeting in early May 2020 that the video risked politicising the
New Zealand Police. Police Commissioner
Andrew Coster
Andrew David Coster (born ) is the current New Zealand Police Commissioner and former Deputy Police Commissioner. He has served as the New Zealand Commissioner of Police since 3 April 2020.
Early life
Coster was born in 1975 or 1976 in Dunedin ...
defended Gayford's presence on the grounds that he was a well-known television personality who had participated in the television series.
On 12 March 2021, Gayford attracted media attention when he posted a tweet stating that the
New Zealand Cabinet
The Cabinet of New Zealand ( mi, Te Rūnanga o te Kāwanatanga o AotearoaTranslated as: "The Rūnanga (literally 'Council') of the Government of New Zealand") is the New Zealand Government's body of senior ministers, accountable to the New Ze ...
had made an "in principle decision" pending final test results in relation to the lifting of a COVID-19 Alert Level 2 lockdown in Auckland. In response, his partner Prime Minister Ardern stated that Gayford had not been briefed on Cabinet's "preliminary decision" to move Auckland to Alert Level 1 that day.
Gayford said in a "scathing review" of an article written by former prime minister
Sir John Key
Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bot ...
in September 2021: "It was such a shame that the name slinging
nduse of disinformation divided his contribution into partisan politics."
In mid-January 2022, Gayford drew controversy after speaking to a pharmacist in December 2021 about obtaining
rapid antigen test
A rapid antigen test (RAT), sometimes called a rapid antigen detection test (RADT), antigen rapid test (ART), or loosely just a rapid test, is a rapid diagnostic test suitable for point-of-care testing that directly detects the presence or absen ...
ing for several musician friends. Gayford had claimed that there had been a change to testing guidance from the
Health Ministry
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
that would allow them to obtain rapid antigen testing instead of the more invasive
polymerase chain reaction
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) ...
testing. Gayford was criticised by the National Party's COVID-19 Response spokesperson
Chris Bishop
Christopher Bishop (born 4 September 1983) is a New Zealand National Party politician who was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2014 as a list MP. Bishop won the Hutt South electorate in 2017 but lost the seat in 20 ...
for allegedly using his position as the Prime Minister's partner to obtain special favours for his friends. Gayford subsequently apologised for "any issues or confusion" this created for pharmacy staff.
Since becoming the partner of the Prime Minister, Gayford has been the target of false rumours that he was under police investigation or due to appear in court. In response to some of these rumours,
New Zealand Police issued a statement in 2018 that Gayford "is not and has not been the subject of any police inquiry, nor has he been charged in relation to any matter." In July 2022, Gayford and
NZME
New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Net ...
agreed to a confidential settlement, following remarks made on NZME podcast and digital radio channel KICK that were described as "damaging and untrue". The settlement included a confidential monetary sum paid to Gayford.
References
External links
*
Fish of the Day – TV series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayford, Clarke
1976 births
Jacinda Ardern
Living people
New Zealand radio presenters
New Zealand television presenters
People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School
People from Gisborne, New Zealand
Spouses of prime ministers of New Zealand