James Martin has been a TV chef and presenter for over 30 years, but there’s only one chef who has ever made him feel nervous
Matt LLoyd and Jennie Buzaglo
16:20, 04 Oct 2025
James Martin(Image: ITV)
TV chef James Martin has confessed that in his 32-year television career, only one fellow chef has ever made him feel nervous.
The 53 year old is renowned for hosting BBC’s Saturday Kitchen from 2006 to 2016, before taking the helm of ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning in 2017.
Before his stint on Saturday Kitchen, James graced several other TV shows, including BBC’s Ready Steady Cook and The Big Breakfast.
Over the years, he’s shared the kitchen with hundreds of chefs, some of whom are the crème de la crème in the industry, bringing their culinary prowess to the show reports the Express.
However, out of all these guest appearances, there was just one chef who managed to unsettle the ITV host.
During a recent episode of Saturday Morning, James joined chefs Asma Khan and Kate Austen to answer questions posed by viewers.
One viewer specifically asked James: “You’ve been on TV for 32 years.
“I’m sure this doesn’t bother you but do you get nervous with the chefs who come onto the show and cook with you on TV?”
To which James replied: “After 32 years of television, there is one chef who made me nervous and that was Michel Roux Snr. One.
“Nobody else.
“We lost him sadly about five years ago.
“He was an ex-mentor and a boss of mine, a friend and a legend.
“But even as a friend, I still had to up my game.”
The French chef and restaurateur’s work reshaped British cooking(Image: PA)
When queried about what he would prepare for the late French chef, James candidly admitted: “Anything he wanted.”
James warmly remembered preparing crêpes suzette and barbecued quail at Roux’s residence in the South of France, calling it amongst the finest days of his existence.
“We cooked a barbequed quail, looking out towards Saint-Tropez.
“One of the best days I’ve had in my life.
“You have pinch yourself moments in life and TV has given me the opportunity to do that, certainly meeting amazing chefs,” he said.
Michel, whose culinary genius transformed British gastronomy, gained fame for launching La Gavroche in Sloane Square in 1967, securing the title “godfather of modern cuisine”.
La Gavroche made history as the first UK establishment to receive a Michelin star in 1974.
Throughout his career, Michel accumulated three Michelin stars for La Gavroche and an additional three for The Waterside Inn.
He died from a chronic lung ailment, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, at the age of 78 in 2020.
Dining and Cooking