James Martin has received support from fans after leaked audio of his outburst at colleagues has surfaced.
The TV chef came under fire this week after reports of him “bullying” fellow staff members on the sets of his programmes emerged.
One particular incident referred to Martin becoming angry after his drain became blocked while filming an episode of James Martin’s Saturday Morning at his home in 2018.
In his response to the reports, Martin, 51, shared some insight into difficulties in his personal life at the time and revealed that he had been diagnosed with facial cancer months prior, for which he still receives treatment.
On Friday (28 July), The Sun published the audio from the Zoom conversation between Martin and his colleagues after the incident at his home.
“People would get fired, rightly so,” Martin is heard saying on the recording. “If this was working for [TV company] Endemol, your a**e would be f***ing fried. Whoever runner did it, they wouldn't be invited back again – that's f***ing it, you're gone.
He continued: “You’re all freelance guys, you’re all freelance, end of. So if you want to work for it, fine, but should show my house some more f***ing respect. Otherwise, you’re gone.”
Later in the recording, Martin is heard demanding that those responsible source their own contacts to fix the issues at his home by the next day, or else “somebody’s gonna get fired”.
It was also alleged that Martin reduced members of the crew on his most recent programme, James Martin’s Spanish Adventure, to tears in front of fellow employees, and then changed schedules that would have given them only a few hours’ sleep. Martin is then claimed to have shown up late despite being the one to change the schedule.
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On social media, the chef has received messages of support and understanding from fans, some of whom took his personal circumstances at the time of the 2018 outburst into account.
“As far as I am concerned @jamesmartinchef did nothing wrong,” wrote one supporter. “I’d also lose my s*** with the crew if they caused £30k of damage to my home. He’s basically been forced to apologise for being upset when they damaged his home while under monumental stress.”
Another added: “So someone’s gone to James Martin’s house, blocked his drains, caused £30k worth of damage and then got annoyed he’s swore at them? I’d swear at them! 30 grand?!”
Yet there were others who maintained that speaking to colleagues in harsh tones is unacceptable, regardless of personal struggles.
James Martin— (PA)
“James Martin, having cancer is awful, but it doesn’t mean you get to be a piece of s*** to everyone else. It’s not an excuse,” a person on Twitter wrote.
“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,” Martin said in his statement.
“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 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.
“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. I can only say I am human and following a build-up of personal life pressure, I admit that I overreacted regarding the damage to my home.”
