James Martin ‘issued stern warning by ITV’ amid flurry of complaints for ‘bullying and intimidating’ crew
TV chef James Martin has been issued with a ‘stern warning’ after allegedly reducing crew members on his shows to tears.
A number of people who have worked behind the scenes on James’ programmes with ITV have spoken out after they said he ‘berated’ them on set.
James, 51, has had a number of shows on ITV including his self-titled ‘Saturday Morning’ show as well as James Martin‘s Spanish Adventure, from where the concerns originally arose.
ITV were made aware of a recent incident that occurred on the Spanish Adventure series having already investigated claims of James’ ‘intimidating’ nature back in 2018, as per a Deadline report.
It has been alleged that during production of the show, James reduced his crew members to tears and often changed schedules meaning they only had a few hours sleep before waking for another shoot.
It is understood that James then showed up for filming late despite being the one to insist on the schedule change.
A producer who worked with James told Deadline: “What’s remarkable is I saw this behaviour on every project I did with him and it feels conscious.
“I think he just feels like it’s OK to behave like that.”
Team members on the show reached out to ITV in May to express concerns about James and his production company, Blue Marlin, which he runs with his agent, Fiona Lindsay.
As a result, ITV’s Head of Entertainment Katie Rawcliffe is believed to have approached both James and Fiona about the claims.
Having looked into the claims, ITV offered advice to Blue Marlin on how better to deal with such situations and how to move forward.
In a statement to Deadline, ITV 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 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.
“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.”
The latest claims have brought light on a similar situation in 2018 in which James has now apologised for his behaviour towards staff working on his James Martin’s Saturday Morning show.
A formal letter was sent to both James and his agent following an incident on the show concerning “repeated incidents of inappropriate, intimidating and bullying behaviour.”
Sources who worked on the show admitted there was an “us and them” culture and power imbalance between James and Fiona and the rest of the staff.
It is thought ITV were made aware of the letter informally but the broadcaster has no formal record.
One member of staff added: “James and Fiona made us feel like they were the lords of the manor and we were the servants.”
In response, Blue Marlin issued a statement, which read: “An unfortunate incident occurred after filming James Martin’s Saturday Morning in 2018 where James’ home was badly damaged. Blue Marlin accepted responsibility. James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets.
“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 Adventure, James and Blue Marlin Television agree that lessons have been learned which have been discussed with members of the team and with ITV.
“Blue Marlin Television and James Martin have taken on board ITV’s recommendations and their sharing of best practice, and are in the process of fully implementing.
“Since the 2018 incident, Blue Marlin Television has continued to film over 500 shows at James’ home. Blue Marlin Television remains committed to ensuring the welfare of all those with whom they work is of the utmost priority.”
The Sun has contacted a representative for James for comment as well as ITV.