Saturday Morning host James Martin turns 54 today and has faced a series of health battles – from a ‘hellish’ facial cancer diagnosis in 2017 to a ‘life-changing’ surgery
James Martin has fought a series of health battles (Image: Daily Record)
TV chef James Martin ranks among Britain’s most recognisable culinary personalities. He’s amassed a massive fanbase over three decades, with his major breakthrough arriving when he took the helm of Saturday Kitchen in 2006.
From 2017 onwards he’s fronted his own programme, Saturday Morning with James Martin, while also competing in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he secured fourth place.
However, James has faced significant health challenges, as he celebrates his 54th birthday today (Tuesday, June 30). He recently shed three stone, displaying his slimmer physique alongside fiancée Kim Johnson, following a turbulent chapter that involved a cancer diagnosis and surgery.
‘Hellish’ cancer battle
James disclosed he was initially diagnosed with facial cancer in 2017. He went under the knife for the condition in 2018 and has received ongoing treatment ever since, reports Wales Online.
The television chef confirmed in April 2024 that he’d been declared cancer-free.
He told the Good Food podcast: “When you’re going through the hell that I’ve gone through in the last six years and you’ve just been given the all-clear; when you get given that news, it’s horrific.
“But when you’re given the news at the end of it, it makes you think in a different light.”
James revealed the condition left him suffering excruciating pain, and characterised the time surrounding his diagnosis as “one of the most fraught and difficult periods of my life”. He revealed how the initial diagnosis even led him to make arrangements for his own funeral.
‘Life-changing’ surgery
Beyond his challenging cancer battle, James also underwent an operation that he described as transformative.
The procedure made such a dramatic difference that it left his television colleagues stunned. James underwent refractive lens surgery late last year which significantly enhanced his vision.
The procedure, also referred to as lens replacement surgery, involves substituting the eye’s natural lens with an artificial one to correct common focusing or “refractive” conditions.
James revealed that his vision has improved so dramatically that it was “scaring” his colleagues that he could identify details about the set and the food from “a mile off”.
He told Prima magazine: “I recently treated myself to new eyes. I had refractive lens surgery about four months ago, which is a procedure that gives me better than 20/20 vision.
“It meant I could wake up in the morning and read the newspapers without glasses.”
Learning disability
James has also been forthright about being diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult.
The condition went largely unrecognised during his upbringing in Yorkshire. He remembered looking back at childhood notebooks covered in red ink, with teachers telling him he wouldn’t amount to anything.
His transition to television actually prompted his diagnosis as he experienced difficulties while reading the autocue. Speaking to The Saturdays’ Mollie King on James Martin’s Saturday Morning, he revealed: “I didn’t know about mine until I was 30 years old, when I started in television to read the autocue, for me it’s an absolute nightmare to read that.”
He told Woman and Home back in 2018: “I failed cookery in school because I was dyslexic, still am. Severely dyslexic. I’ve never read a book in my life.”
Burnout concerns
The celebrity chef has also discussed experiencing burnout as the restaurant industry becomes “tougher and tougher”.
He confessed “I can’t bend down as quickly as I used to” as three decades in the hospitality sector takes its toll.
James’ dedication to work once meant he went without a single day off for three years, but he revealed a shocking incident prompted him to try and achieve a better work-life balance.
Speaking on Loose Women, he explained: “Work was fundamental to this happening – I hadn’t had a day off for several years, and before that it was two days off for nearly three years.
“I was doing a gig abroad and I was chatting to a gentleman who was the same age as me, he had the same work ethic, he was really keen on work.
“He went out on stage literally five minutes after I spoke to him to do an awards ceremony, he fell and died before he hit the floor.
“All of us were just around him in a total shock. I got back on the plane and thought ‘now I’m going to redress the balance.’ And now I’m in a great place.”
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