EXCLUSIVE Ben Fordham: ‘I’m asking for trouble’
As he prepares to take over from talkback king Alan Jones on Monday morning, Ben Fordham opens up about the nerves he is feeling, what – or rather, who – got him to finally accept the role and why “there’s always drama in radio”.
Stellar
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Parents of little ones learn how to brace themselves for the witching hour, that dreaded and testing time – which can last, cruelly, for more than an hour – just before a child eats dinner and goes to bed, where their behaviour can often grow wildly unpredictable.
Yet Ben Fordham, the television presenter and radio broadcaster who has three children under the age of six, thinks he hasn’t really experienced it.
In the past five years, the task of wrangling son Freddy, five, and daughters Pearl, three, and Marigold or “Goldie”, eight months, during that chaotic time has been left to his wife, journalist Jodie Speers.
Since Fordham was busy on air weekdays from 3pm to 6pm hosting his number-one drive radio program Ben Fordham Live on Sydney’s 2GB, it was something of an enigma.
“I’ve heard about this witching hour, but being on drive has been an advantage because I skip it,” he tells Stellar cheekily, adding he is instead on dad duty when the sun comes up. “I’ve been spoilt by my kids in many respects. I love our morning walks to the coffee shop.”
That’s all about to change for the 43-year-old, who will take the microphone of 2GB’s breakfast shift when he replaces veteran Alan Jones as of tomorrow.
Witching hour is now his for the taking, and Speers for one can’t wait. As she jokes to Stellar, “I think I’m going to leave him alone in the house from day one...”
Wisecracks aside, disruption to their family routine is the reason Fordham originally turned down a job offer to host what is arguably one of the most influential broadcasting slots in the country.
Such is the power of the position that Jones’s retirement after 35 years – as well as Fordham’s promotion ahead of Morning Show host Ray Hadley, the presumed successor – has dominated headlines in New South Wales since it was announced on May 12.
“I totally appreciate that the job itself is a spectacular one,” Fordham says. “But make no mistake, it’s not one I was chasing for family reasons. I just wasn’t. I was concerned about the impact it would have on the family setup. And I suppose I just thought it would be easier not to. I think I said no about six times.”
One factor that got Fordham to say “yes” was the realisation that a change in shift would mean he could now pick up Freddy, who started kindergarten this year, from the school gate. But it was ultimately Speers who had the final say.
“I lean on her heavily,” he says. “And I gave her a deadline and said, ‘Listen, if you change your mind and say no, I will never hold it against you. I’ll never raise it as a missed opportunity if you decide it’s not best for the family.’”
Speers, who is on maternity leave from her job as a newsreader with 7 Early News, was aware her husband’s acceptance of the role meant turning their whole day upside down.
“I knew he had to take it, but I probably had a bit of a knot in my stomach trying to process it,” she says, adding it’s too soon to discuss what it means for her job.
The family-versus-career juggle is not new for the couple, who met when Fordham, already impressed by Speers’s police reporting on radio, encountered her at a party and eventually called to ask her out.
She explains that early in their relationship he encouraged her to take a posting in Canberra, even if it meant time apart. The challenge of making a romance work long-distance is what ultimately compelled Fordham to propose, and the couple wed in 2011. Says Speers, “We’ve made it work before. We can do it again.”
Once his wife gave her blessing, it was up to Fordham’s mum Veronica – who founded renowned talent management business The Fordham Company with her late husband John, who died in November – to seal the deal.
“Under immense stress, the person I call for advice is Mum. I got her on teleconference with my bosses,” says Fordham. “I’m sure it’s not a power move when you say to your boss, ‘I need to call my mum.’ But it’s also recognition of a very successful woman who knows her stuff.
“My mum and my sister are both incredibly strong. And then Jodie, well... don’t muck around with Jodie,” he says, adding that in their home it’s actually daughter Pearl who is “boss lady. She’s going to be a strong woman, which is just the way we like it in our family.”
It was Fordham’s father who fostered his love of radio, and he entered the industry at age 15 as a work experience kid on the very show he’s about to take over.
“[Dad] would be immensely proud of the developments of the last couple of weeks. It is quite unbelievable when you think about it... I’m glad I didn’t hang around at the radio station for 28 years waiting for the opportunity. Thankfully I left and joined other organisations and travelled the world and told a million different stories in the meantime.”
His work on TV exposed him to a broader national audience. In 2010, he joined Today alongside Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson as a reporter and eventually a sports presenter, but quit four years later so he could wake up with his children instead.
He was a popular presence on the show, and in 2016 landed a gig alongside Rebecca Maddern as co-host of Australian Ninja Warrior, which returns soon.
Fordham and Speers joke that their own home looks a lot like the obstacle courses on that show, but also say they wouldn’t want it any other way. “I’d always pictured us with three kids,” Speers says. “I wasn’t finished after two, and Goldie has been such a delight. Seeing the other kids play with her is the most beautiful thing.”
Without being prompted, Fordham raises the possibility of welcoming another child. “I warned Jodie that if you open up the door to the third, you are opening the door to a fourth. So let’s see what happens in the next 12 months...”
The couple’s fierce devotion to their children is evident on their social media, where they both post photos and videos regularly. “It’s motivated by just absolute pride in the children; I can’t help it,” he says. “They are the most amazing things.”
Both parents say it is important they spend as much time as possible with their children. Even before taking maternity leave, Speers negotiated a change to her role to help facilitate as much.
“It was less about taking a back seat, and instead making my job a bit more part-time,” she says. “In my opinion, when kids are really little, they just want their mum and dad around as much as they can. It’s about finding a way to be able to provide them with that as much as possible.”
Fordham has been so busy readying himself to take the reins at his new show that the two never stopped to celebrate the promotion. Says Speers, “He’s like an athlete getting ready for the Olympics. He is concentrating on coming up with ideas and preparing.”
Which Fordham says is because, while no stranger to the early morning time slot thanks to his time on Today, he knows radio is its own kind of beast.
“The direction of the radio show is largely decided by the host,” he explains. “While the direction of the television show is largely decided by the executive producer. As far as the excitement factor, radio is the roller-coaster and television is the ferris wheel. It’s still a good view from up there, but you don’t have that white-knuckle ride every morning.”
And each medium comes with a very specific set of politics. Much has been said of Fordham’s promotion ahead of Hadley, but Fordham brushes off any reports of tension with his colleague.
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“There’s always gonna be drama in radio. It’s the nature of the business. But with the departure of Alan, I think everyone at the station realises they’ve got to work together.”
Fordham might be slightly intimidated about what lies ahead – “You’d have to be an idiot to step into [Jones’s] giant shoes. It’s asking for trouble” – but his colleagues have faith he will succeed.
Maddern tells Stellar that her Ninja Warrior co-host is “a mover and shaker”, and says it’s exactly the quality that will help him excel in his new role. “He knows how to have a laugh, but he’s never been afraid to hit someone between the eyes when required.”
After working with him on Today, Lisa Wilkinson says Fordham’s news sense was the strongest in the team and will serve him well in his new job. “Ben has no interest in ever doing life by halves and I think he’s finally realised that he really wants this gig. And he wants it to work,” she tells Stellar.
But she believes the real reason he will succeed in the role is his “secret weapon” in Jodie. “His and Jodie’s marriage is one of the happiest I know, and that powers everything Ben does. He knows that he’s a lucky man.”
And if Fordham is looking forward to settling into his new position, learning from listeners and putting his stamp on the timeslot, perhaps the thing he is most keen to explore is the chance to forge a few new rituals with his young children.
“Routine becomes part of your tradition, and traditions are the glue that keeps families together,” he says. “The best way I explained [to the kids] when I got the job was, ‘Look, we’re not going to be able to have as much fun in the morning. But we’re going to be able to have a lot more fun in the afternoon.’”