James Martin was in 'tears' every week during childhood and admits 'I'm not proud of it'
Celebrity chef James Martin has opened up about his time at school, revealing he was in tears every week due to a difficult situation he was in
Celebrated chef James Martin has opened up about his challenging school days, revealing he was often reduced to tears.
Speaking on the Spooning podcast with Mark Wogan earlier this year, the 52-year-old TV chef admitted he struggled academically and "hated" large parts of his school experience.
He also shared insights into his life at school and how he spent his spare time and holidays. The host of ITV's Saturday Morning, James expressed his passion for cooking, a career he had aspired to since he was eight years old.
Reflecting on his school days, James confessed: "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.
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"[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.
James shared: "In the summer holidays when everybody would just chill out, I used to go France and I was working at two-star Michelin places and chateaus and places like that. All I ever wanted to be was to be a chef from the age of eight years old so I just needed that spark."
The celebrity chef has previously spoken about his background. In a 2023 episode of the Travel Diaries podcast, he recounted an amusing on-air gaffe involving Rick Stein while working for the BBC.
He reminisced: "I was doing my old show on the BBC, and Rick Stein... I was coming out of a Rick Stein VT, and usually I sort of, I'm reading the autocue thinking I can't spell that, I can't say that, so I've got to change this.
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"But for some reason, I didn't because I was too busy getting prepped with bits and pieces and chatting to my guests, and I remember just looking up - James, we're coming to you in five, four, three, two, one, and I read it.
"And for some reason, I just got all my words mixed up. What it was supposed to say was, 'what a delicious looking dish, Rick; now I'm going to do spotted dick and custard, and now I'm going to show you what to do'.
"What I said was, 'what a delicious looking d**k, Rick', and before I even got the apology out, they're laughing in my ear. I've got the BBC laughing in one ear, producers wetting themselves.
"I just wanted to find a hole to cry in, and I had to carry on - you had to carry on for 12 minutes live, knowing full well that all the while you're doing this, and the producers are in my ear going, 'it's gone viral, it's gone viral', and you're trending all over the place."
