James Martin speaks out following ITV show ‘bullying’ claims

James Martin has spoken out after ITV received complaints about his alleged treatment of production staff. Concerns were raised by staff during the recent filming of the TV chef’s latest travel cooking show, Spanish Adventure.

In a joint statement, Martin and production company Blue Marlin said they “agree lessons have been learned”. An ITV spokesman said “people and their welfare” was their “highest priority”.

Blue Marlin Television, which has made several programmes with the TV chef, also took responsibility for damaging Martin’s house and garden during a separate incident in 2018. This led to the presenter becoming angry, something which he and the company said he “wholly regrets”.

The TV star is a co-founder of Blue Marlin Television with Fiona Lindsay, and the pair are currently its joint managing directors.

According to US publication Deadline, Martin was “accused of berating people” and “reducing them to tears in front of other colleagues” while filming the Spanish Adventure programme in May.

The news outlet also alleged Martin was “changing schedules at the last minute, giving his team just a few hours of sleep before the following morning’s shoot”. He also reportedly arrived an hour late despite the schedule change.

A producer, who is understood to have worked with James Martin previously, told the publication: “What’s remarkable is I saw this behaviour on every project I did with him and it feels conscious. I think he just feels like it’s OK to behave like that.”

On July 26, an ITV spokesman said: “Following a complaint we received in May from members of the Blue Marlin production team about the filming of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure, we contacted Blue Marlin to discuss these concerns and to understand how the issues raised were being addressed and what actions were being taken.”