JAMES Martin has come a long way since his bandana-wearing days on The Big Breakfast and Ready Steady Cook.
But along with the plaudits, cook books and string of TV hits that have followed, the celebrity chef has been dogged by showbiz spats, bullying rows and romance drama.
Now the 51-year-old is back in the news following a shock split from his girlfriend of 12 years.
James began dating TV producer Louise Davies, 47, in 2011 after they met on the set of Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
But at the weekend he was seen browsing watches in Mayfair, central London, with a new woman, personal trainer Kim Johnson.
Kim is the ex-wife of businessman Arun Nayar, who was married to actress Elizabeth Hurley for four years until 2011.
A source close to James, however, insists he and former love Louise remain “firm friends” after splitting in December.
It is the latest upheaval in a tumultuous few years for Martin.
In July he faced an ITV investigation over alleged bullying on set.
And in November, he was forced to take time away as he fought facial cancer.
Away from the limelight his life has been in flux. Facing an internal investigation at ITV last summer proved to be the catalyst for a whole string of threads unravelling
TV insider
A TV insider said: “As James became busier and busier on screen, his life away from the spotlight has become increasingly dramatic.
“To many fans he’s still the Yorkshireman who is the face of honest, homecooked grub they grew to love on Saturday Kitchen.
“Away from the limelight his life has been in flux.
“Facing an internal investigation at ITV last summer proved to be the catalyst for a whole string of threads unravelling.
“Now his long-term relationship has ended and friends are wondering what might happen next.”
James and Louise never married, with the chef once declaring: “I don’t need to spend 60 grand on a day.”
But they seemed unshakeable, with an idyllic life in Hampshire.
Their split came months after James faced a series of complaints about his on-set conduct at ITV.
Some staff accused him of reducing them to tears with foul-mouthed tirades.
Others claimed he “acted like the lord of the manor”.
And he was accused of changing schedules at the last minute, leaving his team with only a few hours’ sleep — before then arriving late himself.
James said he “wholly regrets” getting angry, and agreed “lessons have been learned” after the concerns were raised in May during filming of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure.
It was the second time his conduct had been flagged to ITV after staff felt they had reached breaking point following an explosive 2018 row over a blocked drain.
I’m sick of being treated like a f***ing piece of s**t.
James on leaked Zoom call
The Sun exposed the extent of that foul-mouthed rant in July last year when a recording of his ten-minute Zoom tirade was passed to us by a whistleblower.
In it, he swears 42 times while berating staff over damaging his house while filming there.
He yells: “I am absolutely furious. Beyond belief.
“It’s my home, it’s my house. It’s my f***ing house.
“Nobody listens, nobody f***ing listens, do they? This is b*****ks.
“A driveway that cost me £26,000 is f***ed because somebody put a load of oil in the f***ing bin that’s now dripped everywhere.
“If this was somebody’s house you would end up with a massive bill.
“People would get fired and rightly so.
“Show me and show my house more f***ing respect.
“If not, you’re gone.
“Senior members of our staff will get f***ing fired because I’m sick of it.
“I’m sick of being treated like a f***ing piece of s**t.”
He then threatens to kick crew out of his house when they have a break, adding: “You’re going to stand there in the f***ing rain and get wet for lunch, because you’re not having any of my chairs, f*** all.”
In the wake of the revelations, James apologised to crew and said he had been dealing with the death of his grandfather.
He also said his home was burgled by masked men while then partner Louise was home alone.
For the first time, he then revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer on his face in 2017 and had been fighting it since, including undergoing surgery.
He added: “I can only say I am human and following a build-up of life pressure, I overreacted over the damage to my home.”
Since then, the cancer has returned several times.
At a live event in Liverpool in November, he said he would be taking time out to recover from his latest run of medication.
For James, work had always been his priority.
His family were farmers on stately home Castle Howard’s estate, near York, and his mum helped in the kitchen, where his love of food began.
He even began working as a kitchen porter at the age of ten.
After training in catering at Scarborough Technical College and then in France, he became pastry chef at fancy Chewton Glen Hotel in the New Forest and then head chef at Hotel Du Vin in Winchester.
He made his first TV appearance on Sky before moving to Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast, where his steely focus on a telly career really began.
Of that time, he has recalled: “The bandana years!
“All a bit of a blur as I was working 18 hours trying to mix cheffing, TV and driving everywhere.
“I started prepping at 4am, got in the car at 5am, got to The Big Breakfast at 7.30am and was back in the car at 9am, heading back to start lunch service.”
He was a guest chef on BBC game show Ready Steady Cook between 1994 to 2010.
His first cookbook, Eating In With James Martin, came in 1998 — and more than 20 followed.
In 2013, he opened restaurant James Martin Manchester, which was followed by a cookery school in 2017.
Later, James reflected: “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.
“But would I do the same thing again? Probably, because it’s made me who I am.”
James hit the big time on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen in 2006, which he hosted for a decade — and where claims about his bad behaviour first began.
Around that time, he split from the woman he later said was the “love of his life” — Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, 63.
They met at a charity auction in 2001 when Barbara, then 41, paid £18,000 to have him cook a meal for her when he was a 29-year-old star on the rise.
He later said he felt “out of my depth, a spare part” while accompanying her to glitzy parties and premieres.
Barbara had lavished him with gifts, including a Picasso painting, and once offered to buy him a £180,000 Aston Martin.
James wrote at the time of their split: “When we went to functions I felt uncomfortable when people looked at me, this nobody, and probably thought, ‘He’s with her for the money’.”
I look back at all the work I’d done, I’d had like four days off that year and five days off the year before, and I thought something’s got to change.
James
James, who went on to date Miss England 2001, Sally Kettle, still loves cars and has accrued a collection said to be worth more than £5million, including a legendary Colin McRae rally car and a rare Mini Cooper driven by British world rally star Paddy Hopkirk.
He once said of car collecting: “It’s like art — it’s swings and roundabouts.
“Look at Banksy.
“The price of his work has gone nuts, but it’s all related to the age of the buyers.
“Would Granny have a half-a-million-quid print of graffiti on her wall?
“She’d think you were bloody mad.
“My mates come round to my house and they look into my garage and I go, ‘These are my babies, these are my things’, but you know, it’s each to their own, isn’t it?”
There was another moment of self-reflection in 2017 when James ditched the BBC for ITV and a new James Martin’s Saturday Morning show on the channel.
Explaining the decision on Good Morning Britain, James said: “I was chatting to [a stranger] and he stood up on stage and collapsed and passed away in front of me.
“That was just over a year ago and that was the decision to change.
“I look back at all the work I’d done, I’d had like four days off that year and five days off the year before, and I thought something’s got to change.
“And that was partly the reason why I gave up the Saturday Morning show.”
Now a new relationship could mark a whole new chapter for James as he seeks to put the last torrid year behind him.
