Saturday Morning will return, according to James Martin, after its future was called into question due to bullying allegations.
During a sold-out performance of his James Martin Live event at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Monday (October 23), the chef, 51, announced that ITV has renewed the weekend programme for another year.
Martin also thanked the audience for their support during a ‘tough’ period in which he was accused of bullying and threatening conduct while shooting James Martin’s Saturday Morning and disclosed his diagnosis of face cancer.
An emotional Martin began: ‘I want to thank everyone for their support. It’s been a difficult time and I’ve not been well.
‘But I wanted to let you know about the future of my Saturday show as ITV have just made a decision yesterday.’
After a dramatic pause, Martin continued according to Birmingham Live: ‘So, ITV has decided to renew the Saturday show for another year. We’ve just found out.’
Earlier this year, it was claimed that in 2018 the presenter ‘launched a foul-mouthed tirade against staff’ when a drain in his home became blocked while filming Saturday Morning.
He later apologised for ‘upsetting or causing offence’ and cited personal life pressures such as a surprise cancer diagnosis, the death of his last surviving grandparent, and a home burglary as contributing to his’very emotional state’ when his home ‘flooded’ while filming due to a blocked drain.
‘I can only say I am human and following a build-up of personal life pressure, I admit I overreacted regarding the damage to my home,’ Martin said.
Martin’s apologies came after he published a joint statement with Saturday Morning’s production firm Blue Marlin in which he revealed that his property had been ‘badly damaged’ during filming.
It said Blue Marlin accepted responsibility but Martin was ‘shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets.’
The statement added: ‘James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved.’
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It also addressed ‘issues’ that arose during filming James Martin’s Spanish Adventures, such as allegations that Martin made people cry in front of their coworkers and changed schedules at the last minute while coming late himself.
The statement continued: ‘Following [the Saturday Morning allegations] and some issues filming James Martin’s Spanish Adventures, James and Blue Marlin Television agree that lessons have been learned which have been discussed with members of the team and with ITV.’
They added that Martin and the production company were implementing ITV’s recommendations and best practice policies and remain ‘committed to ensuring the welfare of all those with whom they work is of the utmost priority.’
An ITV spokesperson said the broadcaster contacted Blue Marlin after receiving a complaint in May from members of the production team of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure.
They added that after discussing how the issues were being dealt with, ITV made recommendations to Blue Marlin including ‘sharing best practice of some of our own relevant procedures around staff welfare and reiterating our supplier code of conduct.’
The statement added: ‘At ITV people and their welfare are our highest priority. The production companies who make shows for us have primary responsibility for the duty of care of everyone they work with, both on and off-screen.
‘We make clear our expectations in this regard as part of our pre-green-light duty of care processes. This includes having appropriate independent controls in place to enable everyone who works on their shows to confidently and confidentially raise concerns.’
