James Martin: TV chef agrees 'lessons learned' after losing temper

TV chef James Martin has been asked to change his behaviour at work after ITV received complaints about his treatment of production staff.

Concerns were raised during the recent filming of James Martin's Spanish Adventure, his latest travel cooking show.

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 Martin, also took responsibility for damaging his house and garden during a separate incident in 2018.

The damage led to the presenter becoming angry, something which he and the company said he "wholly regrets".

Martin is a co-founder of the production company 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", which he reportedly arrived an hour late for himself.

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.

"As a result, we made a number of recommendations for Blue Marlin to implement as soon as possible, sharing best practice of some of our own relevant procedures around staff welfare and reiterating our Supplier Code of Conduct."

In their joint statement, Martin and Lindsay said they "have taken on board ITV's recommendations and their sharing of best practice, and are in the process of fully implementing".

Martin is well known for presenting several cookery programmes for ITV, and previously fronted similar shows for the BBC from 2005 until 2015.

This is the second time ITV has been made aware, formally or informally, of complaints about Martin, after a separate incident in 2018.

During the production of James Martin's Saturday Morning, Martin became angry after a drain was blocked at his home, where the programme was being filmed.

Blue Marlin said it "accepted responsibility" for "an unfortunate incident" which "occurred after filming", adding that Martin's home had been "badly damaged".

"James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets," the company added in their statement. "James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved."

"Following this 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."

Martin and Lindsay's statement added: "Since the 2018 incident, Blue Marlin Television has continued to film over 500 shows at James' home."

On Wednesday, an ITV spokesman said: "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-greenlight [pre-commissioning] 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."