James Martin has been battling facial cancer since 2018.
James Martin has been battling facial cancer since 2018
The TV chef, 51, said he first underwent surgery for the disease five years ago before it returned on “several occasions”.
He told The Sun: “I was 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.”
He revealed his battle after The Sun reported he ranted at his staff online for 10 minutes about a blocked drain.
A whistleblower passed a recording of the sweary tirade after James was accused of bullying his crew following a string of incidents on set.
He was heard swearing 42 times as he yelled at his team, telling them they should be “f****** fried” – before punishing them by ordering them to take their lunch break standing up in the “f****** rain”.
The incident in 2018 has come to light now after a raft of complaints were made about the chef’s conduct while he filmed ‘James Martin’s Spanish Adventure’ this year, prompting an ITV investigation into his conduct.
He said on Wednesday (26.07.23) in response to ITV’s probe he “wholly” regretted losing his temp and insisted “lessons have been learned”.
The Sun said the tape was recorded from a 15-minute Zoom group call and featured James fuming: “I am absolutely furious, beyond belief. It’s my home, it’s my house. It’s my f****** house.
“Nobody listens, nobody f****** listens do they. I will not put up with this, this is b*******.
“A driveway that cost me £26,000 is f***** because somebody put a load of oil in the f****** bin that’s now dripped everywhere and f****** 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****** fried.
“Show me and show my house more f****** respect - if not, you’re gone.
“But if I haven't got a plumber round at my house to give me a quote and a guy to tarmac by tomorrow, somebody is going to get fired.”
James told The Sun about the rant: "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.
“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 that alone.
"On top of this I was then diagnosed with cancer on my face… after all this stress I was in a very emotional state, and when after filming in early January 2018 I discovered my home had been flooded while filming, I was extremely upset.”
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