James Martin confirms the rumours are true. He is returning to Saturday morning TV with a brand new cooking show but this time it is with ITV. How will it compare to BBC's Saturday Kitchen?
Presenter and chef James Martin is returning to Saturday morning TV with a rival show on ITV just over a year after bowing out of the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen.
James will front a new weekly cookery show on ITV, entitled Saturday Morning With James Martin, filmed at home in his kitchen.
The two-hour pre-recorded programme will see him speak to celebrity guests from the world of entertainment, food and sport as he shares his recipes for the weekend.
James hosted his final episode of Saturday Kitchen after 10 years as presenter in March last year, and the show is now presented by Matt Tebbutt and regular guest chefs including Michel Roux Jr and John Torode.
His new weekend series is one of three new commissions announced by the channel, following on from his daytime series James Martin’s French Adventure.
He will travel the length and breadth of the US in James Martin’s American Adventure, to uncover little-known facts about the nation’s food.
It will screen both on daytime and during peak hours on the channel, while his French Adventure is also set to return with a peak-time series.
James said: “ITV is just such a wonderful broadcaster and an absolute pleasure to work with.
“Me and my team feel right at home here and are really excited about growing our relationship with the new projects we have coming up.
“America is a place I have always loved and the chance to go and explore it both for daytime and peak at ITV is one I simply couldn’t resist! “Being back on Saturday mornings feels really exciting, not a day has gone by in the last year without someone asking me if I’ll be back at that time!”
He added: “But it was really important to me to do things differently… so the new show will take some unexpected turns, watch this space!”
ITV director of daytime Helen Warner said: “James Martin is an outstanding chef and broadcaster and has proved to be a big hit with ITV viewers from the success of the French Adventure series.”
