Extraordinarily cringe moment between Channel Seven anchors Peter Mitchell and Mike Amor sparks conspiracy theories

Channel Seven star Peter Mitchell has been criticized for his lack of ad-libbing skills during an awkward conversation with fellow newsreader Mike Amor.

During Monday’s broadcast at 4pm, the two were involved in some unscripted joke when Peter seemed to struggle to find the right words.

Mike, who presents the weekday afternoon news bulletin in Melbourne, casually asked, “A big welcome back to Peter Mitchell! Mitch, good to see you. How was your break?’

Despite being Seven’s main news presenter in Melbourne for over twenty years, Peter seemed to have lost the ability to speak for a while.

“Very nice, thanks Mike,” Peter replied, but fumbled his words awkwardly as he continued.

‘Summer holidays, what else can you expect? It was wonderful and nice to be back. Batteries fully charged.’

The awkwardness didn’t end there as Peter also struggled to preview the upcoming headlines at 6pm.

“Okay, there’s been a heavy police chase through Melbourne’s west and Cassie Zervos, our crime reporter, has all the details,” Peter said, seemingly taken aback.

He continued the awkward conversation with, “Mike, do you realize we’re only a few weeks away from back-to-school?”

“Oh yeah,” Mike replied, laughing.

Peter added: ‘It’s very expensive as we know, all those uniforms, books and everything else. The Smiths had an idea and they want to help relieve the burden on families, and so do we.”

There seemed to be a problem with the teleprompter as Peter could be seen shuffling papers as he struggled to express his thoughts.

Mike and Peter’s awkward banter did not go unnoticed on the Media Spy forums, where many suggested the exchange highlighted Peter’s difficulty with spontaneous conversations.

“Just watched the interview with Mike and Mitch on 7plus – super awkward,” one viewer commented.

Despite being Seven’s main news presenter in Melbourne for over twenty years, Peter seemed to have lost the ability to speak for a while

There seemed to be a problem with the teleprompter

“Mitch almost seemed nervous, which is surprising for someone who has been the main anchor for so many years.”

One viewer suggested there may have been a conspiracy afoot, suggesting staffers set Peter up.

“Was Mitch set up by staffers to fail without a teleprompter? “I felt like watching an episode of Frontline when Mike hadn’t written his response,” they said.

Another went a step further and suggested that it could have been Mike Amor who was the cause of Peter’s actions.

“Maybe because of Mike lol. It really put him off asking about his vacation. They’re sure ad-lib isn’t his forte. Then why put him in such situations?

Another viewer said: ‘I actually agree with this.’

“The producer or director who put this together should have worked more closely with Mitch. They know lipstick isn’t his strong suit, so why do that?’

One viewer suggested that there may have been a conspiracy afoot, suggesting that staffers or even Mike Amor himself may have set Peter up for failure.

One viewer placed the blame squarely on producers who had known that Peter wasn’t the ‘greatest’ when it comes to ash-libbing.

“Yes, it’s awkward, but it does give the impression that they just threw him into the studio without anything prepared and just asked them to fill 30 seconds,” they said.

‘Knowing that ad-libbing is not his greatest strength, it was a sloppy production.’

Peter has been the lead news presenter at Seven News Melbourne since 2000, after helming the weekend news bulletin.