Inside James Martin's future with ITV show after bullying claims and sweary rant
Celebrity chef James Martin is best known for presenting ITV's Saturday Morning cooking series and BBC's Saturday Kitchen for a decade beforehand. With over 20 best-selling cookbooks and a large handful of programmes to his name, it's safe to say the 51-year-old is one of the nation's most famous chefs.
But over the last year, the culinary star has made headlines over accusations of intimidating, bullying and verbally abusing former crew members. The fate of his Saturday show and his new series, Spanish Adventure, were both hanging in the balance, but he has confirmed his working relationship with ITV will continue.
James has confirmed his ITV Saturday Morning show will continue for another series (ITV)James addressed fans at one of his sold-out James Martin Live events, which took place at the Birmingham Symphony Hall on Monday (October 23). According to Birmingham Live, Martin, who was visibly emotional, said: "I want to thank everyone for their support. It's been a difficult time and I've not been well." He then added: "But I wanted to let you know about the future of my Saturday show as ITV have just made a decision yesterday. So, ITV has decided to renew the Saturday show for another year. We've just found out."
James' new TV series was also under threat, with reports stating ITV bosses had originally decided to axe it. The complaint first emerged after the new show started filming in 2018, during which he was accused of "berating" people, and reducing some "to tears in front of other colleagues". James also allegedly changed schedules at the last minute, which gave the team a few hours of sleep before the next day's shoot.
A producer who worked with the chef in the past told Deadline: "What's remarkable is I saw this behaviour on every project I did with him and it feels conscious. I think he just feels like it's OK to behave like that." This was the second reported complaint ITV received over his behaviour. The previous incident was also in 2018. He reportedly went into a 'foul-mouthed tirade' against staff members when a drain in his home became blocked.
Corrie's Sue Cleaver says I'm A Celebrity stint helped her to push boundaries
Speaking in a statement issued the same day, Blue Marlin TV - the production company connected to many of James' projects - seemingly addressed the claims made against the TV chef from 2018 when filming at his home and shared an apology on behalf of the ITV star. The statement shared with the Mirror read: "An unfortunate incident occurred after filming James Martin's Saturday Morning in 2018 where James' home was badly damaged. Blue Marlin Television accepted responsibility.
"James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets. James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved. Following this and some issues filming James Martin’s Spanish Adventures, James and Blue Marlin Television agree that lessons have been learned which have been discussed with members of the team and with ITV."
A leaked clip recorded James having a sweary rant to crew members over damage to his property in 2018 (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Following the original allegations being published, leaked audio of a Zoom call between James and his crew emerged, in which the TV chef can be heard swearing at his time 42 times and furiously ranting about damage caused to his property during filming in 2018. In the leaked tape, obtained by The Sun, James can be heard saying: "I am absolutely furious, beyond belief. It's my home, it's my house. It's my f**ing house.
"Nobody listens, nobody f**king listens do they. I will not put up with this, this is b*llocks. A driveway that cost me £26,000 is f**ked because somebody put a load of oil in the f**king bin that's now dripped everywhere and f**king ruined my driveway. If this was somebody's house you would end up with a massive bill. People would get fired and rightly so, if this was working for Endemol your arse would be f**king fried."
He went on to release an apology and joint statement with his production company Blue Marlin. James said: "Firstly, I would like to publicly and sincerely apologise to the crew involved in this incident, as I did at the time. I have always strived to keep my private life private. However since details of a conversation, which was secretly recorded in January 2018, are now five years later being made public by a former member of our production team, I have decided to make a statement."
He went on: "The end of 2017 was one of the most fraught and difficult periods of my life. I was dealing with the death of my last living grandparent, my grandfather, and on account of work commitments, I could not attend his funeral. Later that month I was burgled at night by a team of masked men, who entered my house while my partner Louise was at home alone and I was away working. I was devastated that she had to go through alone."
Discussing his health condition for the first time, he said: "I was then diagnosed with cancer on my face and I had to have surgery, which I couldn't do until two days before Christmas when we had finished filming. Since then it has returned on several occasions and I have to have regular treatments." Explaining the stress left him in an "emotional state", he admitted he "overreacted" to the damage caused to his home by the blocked drain.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
