James Martin says he had an ‘amazing childhood’ as he recalled one part of growing up that he ‘hated’ because of a personal struggle that left him ‘in tears’
James Martin has opened up on his childhood(Image: ITV)
James Martin says it was like “hell on earth” as he made a heartbreaking personal admission. The 53-year-old celebrity chef grew up on the Castle Howard estate in North Yorkshire.
It was there that James discovered his passion for food as he helped his mother in the kitchen. However while James flourished at home, he has been open about his struggles at school.
The Saturday Morning star admits he “hated” much of his time in education. James admits he “failed all of my exams” and “left with no qualifications”.
He opened up about his childhood on the My Life in a Biscuit Tin podcast. James explained: “I had an amazing childhood, I loved every minute of it, but school was hell on earth.
“It was the ability to come back home and your parents say, ‘Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean anything’, because they never had the academic life. They knew that if you work hard enough, you’re going to achieve something.
James said he ‘hated’ school(Image: ITV)
“I was quite different to anybody else, I was quite different at school, I was quite different at home. I just would work, and I couldn’t understand why anybody else was working.”
James has previously said that he believes some of his struggles at school were down to his dyslexia. He particularly says he struggled “on Wednesdays” because that was when his class would have spelling tests.
On the Spooning podcast with Mark Wogan, James said: “I hated it. I failed all my exams at school. I didn’t enjoy it. I loved the cooking side of it but I couldn’t do it academically because…you had to pass things these full exams and I would never pass an exam in my life.
“I left school with no qualifications. I’m not proud of it but I used to hate Wednesdays. Wednesday [was a] spelling test. I’d be in tears on a Wednesday night, I’d have 20,000 words to write because I knew that I would get every single one of them wrong.”
James Martin’s popular ITV cooking show Saturday Morning has been on our screens since 2017(Image: ITV)
Speaking about the impact his dyslexia had on his education, James said: “[I was a] massive dyslexic, never read a book in my life apart from I think Peter and Jane level B2 was probably the last one I read when I was at primary school. I just longed to be cooking and so hand in hand with being at school I was working every weekend.”
After leaving school James took up work experience in London before heading to Hostellerie De Plaisance in Saint-Émilion, France, to train as a chef. He later went on to work at the three Michelin Star restaurant Maison Troisgros in Roanne.
He returned to England to work as a pastry chef at the Chewton Glen Hotel before becoming head chef at the Hotel Du Vin, aged 22. His early television career saw him appearing on shows such as Ready Steady Cook and The Big Breakfast as well as fronting James Martin: Yorkshire’s Finest.
He later went on to present Saturday Kitchen for over a decade before launching James Martin’s Saturday Morning on ITV One. He will return today (December 25) at 1pm on ITV One with James Martin’s Christmas Day.
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website.
