‘I feel like I have my life back!’
James Martin on why he’s feeling better than ever
He’s been cooking up a storm on our screens for 24 years – and with the launch of his new book, James Martin’s Islands To Highlands, and a TV show on the horizon, James Martin’s plate is full. He talks to Nathalie Whittle about overcoming hurdles, dining with the Queen, and why he’s feeling better than ever…
James, 47, lives in Hampshire. He has two dogs, a working cocker spaniel called Cooper (pictured), and a Lhasa Apso called Ralph.
CHASING MY DREAMS
I live by the motto ‘believe in what you believe in’ and I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for that. It hasn’t always been easy.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to do a ‘wellness’ show or a health cookbook where I stand on the scales and six months later
I’ve lost five stone. They all say,
‘You’re the prime candidate.’ Er, thanks! But the truth is, if I stopped eating butter and using cream and cut out all the good stuff, I’d be miserable – and I wouldn’t believe in what I was doing. It’s not who
I am or who I’ve ever been.
I grew up on a farm in Yorkshire and the ethos was very much ‘if you want something, you have to work for it’. Before school, we’d muck out the pigs and I’d help Mum and my grandmother turn all the stuff from the farm that we couldn’t sell into hearty dishes: chicken livers and onions, bolognese or meatballs. Every night, we’d gather round the table and eat together; if you got up before you’d eaten every last scrap, heaven help you!
I was 10 when I thought I might be able to turn cooking into a career. At school, I was failing everything, unaware that I was dyslexic. I was often in tears at the end of the day when I had to write out 20,000 words because I got every word on a spelling test wrong. But it meant I had to find other ways to succeed. I realised you could buy a whole chicken for £5 and, with a bit of work to it, you could sell it for £25, so I started a little business. By the time I was 13, I was catering for my first wedding, setting up shop in the middle of a garden!
Moving to London was the biggest risk of my life. I was 19 and I’d just finished catering college when Antony Worrall Thompson offered me a job in his kitchen. I had no money, so Mum would send me a £10 Marks & Spencer voucher a week and I lived on microwave meals and KFC. When she came to visit me after three months, she walked straight past me because she didn’t recognise me – my eyes were black from lack of sleep and my hair was long. She left in tears after that visit, but now she says, ‘Despite everything, I could tell by the smile on your face that you were in the best place on earth.’ I was, and I still am.
A ROYAL BANQUET
I’ve had some incredibly surreal moments in my career since then – but being invited to lunch with the Queen at Buckingham Palace tops them all.
It was very intimate, with just six of us – the Queen, Prince Philip, me and three others – all sat together in the dining room. We were served duck, fresh strawberries and the most incredible pineapple dessert. I actually still have the menu framed in my toilet at home!
I couldn’t resist asking for a little tour of the kitchen while I was there. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s just like a big commercial kitchen, with a very impressive line-up of cooks. And I have to say, the pans are pretty fancy!
Before I got up to leave that day, I was tapped on the shoulder by the Queen’s equerry. He said, ‘The Queen feels she hasn’t had a full discussion with you over lunch, she’d like to have a chat with you in the drawing room.’ I could hardly believe it. She sat there in front of me just like my gran would do, and she
‘By the time I was 13, I was catering for my first wedding’
knew absolutely everything about me! She’s the most amazing woman.
A CHANGE OF PACE
I’ve always been a workaholic, I don’t think that will ever go away, but leaving Saturday Kitchen four years ago was a turning point in my life. I’d had a few health scares in the lead-up, but the catalyst was witnessing a guy my own age drop dead right in front of me. I was chatting away to him at an event in Dubai; five minutes later, he got up on stage in front of 2,000 people and suffered a heart attack. It was awful. I hadn’t had two consecutive days off in years and I sat on the plane home thinking, ‘Something has to change; stop doing the things you’ve been told to do and do the things you want to do.’ And the decision was made.
Leaving the show has been beneficial to me and to everyone around me, because I’m healthier, both mentally and physically. I might be busier than ever, but now I can have time with my dogs, time at home, where we record James Martin’s Saturday Morning, and I can decide what to do and when. That puts you in a much better place in your head, and in life. In many ways, it feels like I’ve got my life back.
I won’t pretend I don’t still have moments where I doubt myself; we all do, don’t we? Even after 24 years on
TV, I’m always thinking in the back of my mind, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ And I know that there are much better chefs out there than I will ever be – 100% of the chefs that come on my show are better than me! But I have to stop myself and think, ‘Right, I’ve made a decision, this is the path I’m going on, I have to focus.’ It’s important not to let the noise in your head get in the way.
MY NEXT STEPS
I don’t plan to ever retire. If I retire, I’m dead. It’s not necessarily a good thing, but I just can’t sit there and do nothing. I went on holiday to the Maldives a few years ago and I’ll never go again. I was so bored that I thought, ‘Right, that’s it,
I’m going for a walk around the island.’ I was back within a minute and a half thinking, ‘Is that it?’
Filming my latest series, James Martin’s Islands To Highlands, was
a real adventure. We travelled all across the British Isles – from Jersey to Shetland – and believe it or not, we didn’t plan any of it. Unsurprisingly, a lot of things went wrong along the way! The funniest moment was when we ended up taking a gentleman’s front door off its hinges to cook on. We had it propped up on two upturned wheelbarrows and, as I was cooking, the wind was going sideways at about 60mph, so half my ingredients were disappearing into the next-door neighbour’s field. It was total chaos, as you’ll see!
The show I keep getting asked to go on is I’m A Celebrity… but the answer is still no! I’d no doubt make a complete fool of myself and I’d probably end my career within two minutes. I wouldn’t mind doing Love Island – it’s just a shame I haven’t got a six pack, nor will I ever have one!
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
I’ve read all sorts of rubbish about my weight – the worst thing you can do is google yourself – but I try not to get caught up with the way I look. I don’t look at pictures of myself and I try not to watch myself back on TV, either. Though I did get a bit of shock recently. My eyesight is starting to go, so I bought a bigger TV for my bedroom, 85 inches big, and I accidentally caught myself on my Saturday morning show. I looked at myself and thought, ‘Jesus, I look massive! Oh… I am massive!’
When I’m working a lot, the weight comes off naturally – I’ve lost a stone and a half in the last six weeks. But the fact is that I’m 6ft 3ins, so I’m not going to kid myself, I’m never going to be 12 stone. Besides, I don’t go to the gym and I don’t do yoga or Pilates – the thought of all that freaks me out!
My size did actually have an advantage recently. The other day, I was standing in a queue at a cashpoint in Oxford Street when, all of a sudden, someone pushed an elderly man out of the way and went to grab his money from the machine. I managed to grab the culprit and the police were called. People say, ‘You can’t do that because of who you are.’ Well b ***** ks to that!
FAMILY MATTERS
The biggest low of my career is that I’ve given up everything for it. I look at my mates and they’re all married with kids, and that’s not the case for me because I’ve been so focused on work. The level of commitment it requires and the choices you have to make have a huge impact. But would I do the same thing again? Probably, because it’s made me who I am. And why does everybody have to follow the norm anyway?
I try to keep my work life and my private life separate. If you want to bring your girlfriend or your wife into stuff, that’s fine, but when it goes wrong, it goes massively wrong. My biggest regret is writing an autobiography. The
‘It’s important not to let the noise in your head get in the way’
upshot was horrific and I quickly realised it was a big mistake. Now I say to all my mates, ‘Never, ever do one because, once it’s done, it’s there for ever and you’re the one that’s left with it.’
FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS
My dogs, Cooper and Ralph, make a huge difference to my life – and they’re a lot easier to look after than kids! The first thing I do when I get home from work is pour myself a gin and tonic, then I take the pair of them for a walk. We’ll do three or four miles and it’s a chance to really clear my head.
I bought Ralph completely by chance. Don’t judge me, but I was p***ed in Harrods after a long lunch and I was supposed to be buying shoes, but I got off at the wrong floor and found myself at the pet shop. I saw Ralph sitting there; 36 hours later, he was at my house!
Cooper is my best buddy in the world.
He’s a working dog, which means rather than doing things for treats, like most dogs, he does them for me – it means we have a bond like no other. I could have had the worst day at work but I get back and he’s waiting, wagging his tail. You can’t beat that kind of affection.
PURSUING MY PASSIONS
At 47, I’m finally getting round to doing all the things I’ve always wanted to do. I don’t want to ever look back at life and think ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’. Not so long ago, I did something a little bit mad and bought a motorboat. It’s the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased, besides my house, but it’s also the best because it’s been my release. I get on board and forget everything. Sometimes, I’ll head off in the evening with Cooper and I won’t return until the following day.
I’ve also taken up a new hobby:
playing guitar. I started from scratch a couple of years ago because I was doing a live tour and wanted to end it with something special, but it was such good fun and now I’m in a band with some local guys from Winchester. And, believe it or not, last year we played our first gig at Chris Evans’s Carfest!
I was probably the most nervous I’ve
ever been that day. We were one of the lead acts after Jools Holland and before Kaiser Chiefs and there were 35,000 people in the audience, including my chef mates Tom Kerridge and Paul Ainsworth. They were looking at me as if to say, ‘What on earth are you doing up there?’ but we performed a two-song set and it was incredible. This year? They want us to perform again for half an hour! Once upon a time, I might have said no, but now I realise you just have to go for it, don’t you?
• James Martin’s Islands To Highlands will air weekdays from Monday 6 April at 2pm on ITV. The accompanying book (Quadrille) is out now.
Who’s a good boy? Cooper is!