James Martin is the British chef and television personality behind Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV, the Saturday-morning cookery programme that has aired continuously since 2017 and is confirmed for new episodes across 2026 following a TV Choice Award win. Born 30 June 1972 in Malton, North Yorkshire, England, Martin trained at Scarborough Technical College and spent his formative culinary years at Antony Worrall Thompson’s 190 Queen’s Gate in London and at Hotel du Vin in the 1990s. He became head chef at the Hotel du Vin Winchester at age 22, one of the youngest UK head-chef appointments of the period, before moving into broadcasting in the early 2000s.
Martin hosted BBC Saturday Kitchen from 2006 to 2016, one of the defining UK Saturday-morning cookery programmes of the period, before leaving the BBC in 2016 and launching his own ITV format Saturday Morning with James Martin in 2017. His 2025-2026 work includes the continuing Saturday Morning weekly programme (first 2025 episode aired 4 January), a confirmed 2026 renewal with a major ITV slot change, and scheduled appearances at the Good Food Show Summer on 19-20 June 2026. He operates a country-house cookery school and production base at Manor House Farm in Hampshire and continues writing cookbooks including Saturday Morning Cookbook and Islands to Highlands.
TL;DR
- British chef born 30 June 1972 in Malton, North Yorkshire, England
- Trained at Scarborough Technical College; 190 Queen’s Gate under Antony Worrall Thompson
- Head chef at Hotel du Vin Winchester at age 22
- BBC Saturday Kitchen host 2006-2016 (10 years)
- Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV since 2017 (continues into 2026)
- 2026: Renewed with major ITV slot change; Good Food Show Summer 19-20 June 2026
James Martin key facts
| Born | 30 June 1972, Malton, North Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Training | Scarborough Technical College; 190 Queen’s Gate London under Antony Worrall Thompson; Hotel du Vin |
| Previous programme | BBC Saturday Kitchen host 2006-2016 (10 years) |
| Current programme | Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV (since 2017; continues 2026 with new slot) |
| Base | Manor House Farm, Hampshire, England (cookery school and production base) |
| 2026 activity | Saturday Morning continues; Good Food Show Summer 19-20 June 2026 |
Early life and training of James Martin
Martin was born on 30 June 1972 in Malton, a small market town in North Yorkshire, England. He grew up on a farm on the Castle Howard estate where his father Terry was a chef and the family was involved in the agricultural economy of the North York Moors. Martin has spoken in multiple interviews, including the 2025 Road To Success Podcast appearance, about a Yorkshire childhood spent on the farm, early struggles with dyslexia at school, and the formative role his father and local chefs played in his culinary education.
By age 10 Martin was working alongside chefs Brian Turner and Keith Floyd at local events in Yorkshire, gaining early kitchen exposure while still in primary school. He attended Scarborough Technical College for formal catering qualifications, training discipline and foundation-level kitchen technique. He spent time training in France after college, learning classical French technique that would inform his later approach to British fine dining at hotel level.
Martin moved to London in the early 1990s and joined Antony Worrall Thompson’s 190 Queen’s Gate, one of the important London fine-dining restaurants of the period. In his early twenties he moved to the Hotel du Vin boutique-hotel group and at age 22 became head chef at the Hotel du Vin Winchester, one of the youngest UK head-chef appointments at fine-dining level of the early 1990s. The Hotel du Vin role established him at the centre of the UK boutique-hotel fine-dining scene and led to his first broadcasting appearances in the mid-1990s and 2000s.
James Martin career timeline
- 30 June 1972: Born in Malton, North Yorkshire, England
- 1982: Works alongside Brian Turner and Keith Floyd at local events at age 10
- Late 1980s: Attends Scarborough Technical College for catering training
- Late 1980s: Trains in France in classical technique
- Early 1990s: Joins Antony Worrall Thompson’s 190 Queen’s Gate in London
- 1994: Becomes head chef at Hotel du Vin Winchester at age 22
- Late 1990s: First broadcasting appearances on UK cookery television
- 1999: Becomes regular chef on Ready Steady Cook on BBC Two
- 2006: Becomes host of BBC Saturday Kitchen
- 2012: Opens cookery school at Manor House Farm, Hampshire
- 2016: Leaves BBC Saturday Kitchen after 10 years
- 2017: Launches Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV
- 2018: James Martin’s American Adventure on ITV
- 2019: James Martin’s Islands to Highlands on ITV
- 2020: James Martin’s Great British Adventure on ITV
- 2022: James Martin’s Spanish Adventure on ITV
- 2024: James Martin’s French Adventure on ITV
- 4 January 2025: First Saturday Morning episode of 2025 airs
- December 2025: Saturday Morning episode with Gloria Hunniford and Jodie Kidd
- 2025: Saturday Morning wins TV Choice Award; Road To Success Podcast interview airs
- 2026: ITV confirms renewal with new major slot change for Saturday Morning
- 19-20 June 2026: Good Food Show Summer appearance scheduled
James Martin signature style: classical British hotel cooking on Saturday-morning television
Martin’s central argument, developed at Hotel du Vin Winchester from 1994 and refined across 19 years of Saturday-morning television from 2006 to the present, is that classical British hotel cooking, built on French fine-dining technique applied to British ingredients, can anchor mainstream Saturday-morning cookery television. The Saturday Kitchen BBC format and the subsequent Saturday Morning ITV format have both built on this argument: a weekly live-format programme with guest chefs, celebrity interviews, cooking demonstrations, and a format that treats British home cooking with hotel-kitchen seriousness.
The second defining element is the adventure-travel format across multiple ITV series. Martin has produced travel-cookery series across America (2018), the British Islands and Highlands (2019), Great Britain (2020), Spain (2022), and France (2024). The series extend the Saturday Morning weekly format into longer-form travel-and-cookery documentary, and position Martin alongside peers including Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry as one of the defining current British cookery-television figures.
The third pillar is the cookery-school and country-house base at Manor House Farm in Hampshire. Since 2012 Martin has operated a cookery school and production base at Manor House Farm, hosting guest classes, filming Saturday Morning episodes and producing the ITV travel-and-cookery series from the same location. The combined cookery-school and production-base model is close to the country-house culinary operation that peers including Prue Leith have operated in the past.
Notable James Martin work
Several Martin programmes and publications have become reference points in British cookery television. BBC Saturday Kitchen under Martin’s hosting from 2006 to 2016 defined the UK Saturday-morning cookery programme format of the period, and Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV since 2017 has extended the format into the current era. Martin’s adventure-travel ITV series (American Adventure, Islands to Highlands, Great British Adventure, Spanish Adventure, French Adventure) form a documentary library across more than seven years. Cookbook output includes Saturday Morning Cookbook (2018), Islands to Highlands (2019), James Martin’s Great British Adventure (2020), Spanish Adventure (2022), and his French Adventure (2024).
James Martin awards and recognition
- 1994: Becomes head chef at Hotel du Vin Winchester at age 22
- 1999: Becomes regular chef on Ready Steady Cook on BBC Two
- 2006: Becomes host of BBC Saturday Kitchen
- 2012: Opens cookery school at Manor House Farm, Hampshire
- 2016: Leaves BBC Saturday Kitchen after 10 years
- 2017: Launches Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV
- 2018: James Martin’s American Adventure premieres
- 2019: Islands to Highlands and companion cookbook published
- 2024: French Adventure ITV series airs
- 2025: Saturday Morning wins TV Choice Award; Road To Success Podcast feature airs
- 2026: ITV confirms renewal with new major slot change
- 19-20 June 2026: Good Food Show Summer appearance scheduled
James Martin impact on British Saturday-morning cookery television
Martin’s most concrete contribution is the combined 10-year BBC Saturday Kitchen run (2006-2016) and the subsequent ITV Saturday Morning with James Martin since 2017. Together the two programmes account for 19+ continuous years of host-led UK Saturday-morning cookery television, making Martin the longest-running continuous Saturday-morning cookery presenter on British network television. The 2025 TV Choice Award win and the 2026 renewal with new major slot change extend the run into a third decade.
The second contribution is the adventure-travel documentary format across multiple ITV series since 2018. American Adventure, Islands to Highlands, Great British Adventure, Spanish Adventure and French Adventure together form a travel-cookery documentary library that few UK chef-presenters have matched in scale.
The third contribution is the cookery-school and country-house production-base model at Manor House Farm Hampshire since 2012. Within the current British cookery-television cohort Martin sits alongside peers including Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry, and Prue Leith as one of the defining current UK chef-television figures, though in a distinct register centred on the Saturday-morning live cookery format rather than the competition-format Bake Off.
James Martin FAQ
Is Saturday Morning with James Martin still on?
Yes. Saturday Morning with James Martin has aired on ITV continuously since 2017. The first 2025 episode aired on 4 January, and the programme continues through 2025 and 2026 with a confirmed 2026 renewal with a new major ITV slot change, following Martin’s 2025 TV Choice Award win.
Did Martin host Saturday Kitchen?
Yes. Martin hosted BBC Saturday Kitchen from 2006 to 2016, a 10-year run that defined the UK Saturday-morning cookery programme format of the period. He left the BBC in 2016 and launched Saturday Morning with James Martin on ITV in 2017.
When did Martin become head chef?
At age 22 in 1994 Martin became head chef at Hotel du Vin Winchester, one of the youngest UK head-chef appointments at fine-dining level of the early 1990s. He had worked at Antony Worrall Thompson’s 190 Queen’s Gate in London before the Hotel du Vin appointment.
Where is Manor House Farm?
In Hampshire, southern England. Manor House Farm has been Martin’s cookery school and television-production base since 2012, hosting guest classes, filming Saturday Morning episodes, and producing the ITV travel-and-cookery documentary series from the same location.
What adventure series has Martin made?
Five ITV adventure-travel-cookery series since 2018: James Martin’s American Adventure (2018), Islands to Highlands (2019), Great British Adventure (2020), Spanish Adventure (2022), and French Adventure (2024). Each series pairs travel documentary with Martin’s classical British hotel-cookery approach.
What is next for James Martin
Saturday Morning with James Martin continues on ITV with a new major slot change in 2026 following the TV Choice Award win, and Martin is scheduled for the Good Food Show Summer on 19-20 June 2026. His Manor House Farm cookery school continues to operate. His public Instagram (@jamesmartinchef) is the best source for current updates.
