The TV chef was visibly moved by a sweet gesture aired during James Martin’s Saturday Morning
Samantha King Content Editor
10:59, 14 Feb 2026
The ITV cooking show featured a touching tribute to the TV chef(Image: ITV)
ITV aired a touching tribute to TV chef James Martin during the latest instalment of his weekend cooking show.
James Martin’s Saturday Morning returned to screens on Valentine’s Day (February 14) with the cook welcoming former Wet Wet Wet star Marti Pellow and sauce guru Levi Roots to his Hampshire home.
Minutes into the show, James met cheese connoisseur Jean-Charles Arnaud in Jura, France. Introducing the segment, he told viewers at home: “Just enjoy this. This is pretty special.”
During the segment he headed to an old French fortress that was now home to over 100,000 rounds of Comté cheese. There he met up with the cheese expert who showed him where they kept the products deep within the fort.
James had a cheese wheel set aside for him(Image: ITV)
“In over 50,000 metres of vaulted rooms more than 100,000 rounds of glorious Comté cheese are aged and refined,” James stated in his voiceover before footage of him entering the area with Jean-Charles was shown.
“This is just about the best place I’ve ever been to,” James said, awe-struck by the towering shelves packed full of cheese. “These caves are incredible.”
Jean-Charles explained that the cheeses are matured for a minimum of a year, and tapping them was used as a gauge as to how the maturing process was going.
James was wowed by the cheese’s flavour(Image: ITV)
He demonstrated this to James, who watched on amazed as the cheese rounds each made a different pitch when tapped with a tiny hammer.
He identified a “good one”, which was pulled out for futher inspection and a taste test. The 40kg cheese had already been aged for one year. After trying it, James gushed: “It’s fantastic,” and burst into laughter.
The wheel was carved with James’ name(Image: ITV)
Clearly moved by his enthusiasm for the food, Jean-Charles then carved James’ name into the edge of the wheel ready for him to collect in another year in a touching tribute.
Clearly moved by the gesture, James asked: “That’s my cheese?”
He quickly joked: “Problem is I’ve got to find it – thank you very much. I’m coming back for that, that’s amazing.”
James Martin’s Saturday Morning airs on ITV1 and ITVX from 9.30am on Saturdays. For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new ** Everything Gossip ** website.
