James Martin has admitted he is unlikely to sign up for another guest presenting stint on ‘This Morning’, admitting it “frightened the shit” out of him.
The TV chef stepped in for Phillip Schofield on the ITV daytime show last summer alongside Anita Rani, having been a regular in the kitchen in recent years.
However, James branded fronting the iconic show “the most frightening thing” of his 24-year TV career, despite previously fronting the BBC’s cookery show ‘Saturday Kitchen’ for 10 years.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, he said: “It frightened the shit out of me. It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“One minute you’ve got a pet crow and someone who’s got a great Dane, then the next you’re talking about women’s problems and someone who’s got vaginal bleeding.
“It’s an amazing show and it was a privilege to be asked to do it... but I’m more than happy to be just stuck behind the kitchen now. I’ll leave the rest to them lot and go back to my day job.”
James was full of praise and admiration for regular hosts Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield, Ruth Langford and Eamonn Holmes though, admitting he learns a lot about presenting from them.
“Eamonn and Ruth are pros at it,” he said. “Holly and Phil - when you see the work that goes into it. - there’s not many people who can do that. They are seriously good at their job.
“They’re also relaxed and chilled out and that’s where the producers allow them to go off on a tangent to do that. It’s brilliant to watch and I admire it when you see them do that, and you learn from it.”
James is returning to our screens this weekend as the host of ITV’s rival to ‘Saturday Kitchen’, entitled ‘Saturday Morning With James Martin’.
Despite their similar themes, James has insisted the show shows are not in competition, claiming they are completely different in tone and style.
“People will make their own assumptions, but I don’t think it’s anything like competition really, because it’s not the same,” he said.
“If it was a live, studio-based programme, I can see people making that assumption, but it’s a very different show. If I started to do something like an omelette challenge, I would understand it.”
‘Saturday Morning With James Martin’ airs on Saturdays at 9.30am on ITV.