Acting prime minister Winston Peters says he was on time for his AM Show appointment - but he's adamant he was supposed to be on air at 6.50am, not 6.40am as the AM Show claimed.

The Prime Minister's Office has taken responsibility for acting PM Winston Peters being late to the AM show on Tuesday Morning.

A statement confirmed Peters was told the interview was at 6.50am.

On Tuesday morning, Peters lost his slot on The AM Show, after the programme claimed he arrived late for a second time. The AM Show says Peters was scheduled to appear on the show on Tuesday morning at 6.40am - the time regularly reserved for the PM. His call time was 6.20am.

When he had not arrived by 6.40am, however, the production pulled him from the schedule, much to host Duncan Garner's disgust.

"We do not require you on the programme because you're too unreliable, sir," says AM Show host Duncan Garner.

"We're going to give you a sleep in for the next few weeks," the host and former political editor said. "We do not require you on the programme because you're too unreliable, sir. It's Winston first and not anyone else. That's our position for now... we're going to ask somebody else if they can front for the Government, somebody reliable."

The Prime Minister's office confirmed 6.50am was the time entered "mistakenly" in Peters' diary.

"Peters arrived at 6.43 am believing he was early, but was told he was supposed to go on air at 6.40am and was too late," a statement from the Prime Minister's office said.

"The show's producers refused to have him on even though he was with the Newshub crew and ready to go on air. ﻿ Newshub apparently insists on its guests - even prime minister Jacinda Ardern - arriving at least 20 minutes early for the show."

In a media stand-up on Monday morning, Peters said he was supposed to appear at 6.50am and had been ready to go at 6.43am.

SUPPLIED AM Show hosts Mark Richardson, Duncan Garner, and Amanda Gillies are sick of waiting for acting Prime Minister Winston Peters.

When a Newshub reporter argued he was supposed to appear at 6.40am, Peters said that was incorrect.

"You don't want to believe my word, that's fine, you go ahead and believe your organisation's word for what it's not worth," he said.

"6.50 was when I was meant to be on, and I was there seven minutes before that, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to go."

On the AM Show, co-host Amanda Gillies called on Grant Robertson to take Peters' place on the show.

"He has this one job, every week. It was agreed to. I just think it's insulting and it's actually rude. If you don't want to do it say no, we'll fill it with someone else... If Jacinda Ardern can turn up here at 39 weeks pregnant then he can turn up here. Sorry."

Sports anchor Mark Richardson agreed.

"It's unacceptable in this day and age to have a Prime Minister who is disrespectful to the good people of this country."

Earlier Garner said Peters needed to take appearing on the show seriously.

"We've got to hit our marks, and you've got to hit your mark... the truth is we needed you here. We needed you last week, we needed you this week. We needed to rely on you, Mr Peters. You are the acting Prime Minister."

He ended the announcement by asking Peters to "consult our lawyers if there's a problem".

A spokesperson for The AM Show's producers MediaWorks said: "We absolutely support the position of the show - Duncan, Mark and Amanda said it best."

Peters and Garner have previously engaged in some banter on the show, with Peters responding to issues raised by Garner via emails the host read out.