James Martin at the centre of 'ITV bullying scandal' - popular chef's allegations explained

James Martin has found himself at the centre of a scandal as the TV chef reportedly faces 'bullying and intimidating behaviour' allegations from his colleagues on the set of an ITV show.

Concerns were raised relating to the popular chef's conduct with staff, as well as changing schedules last-minute which has allegedly caused distress.

Martin joins a growing list of big name TV stars to face serious allegations, including Phillip Schofield on the set of ITV's flagship daytime show This Morning and the face of BBC's news programming Huw Edwards. GB News presenter Dan Wooton has also been on the receiving end of allegations.

Here is everything you need to know about the James Martin allegations: including what he is accused of doing, what ITV has said and whether or not the chef has officially responded.

What has James Martin been accused of?

According to Deadline, it has been claimed that concerns over the 51-year-old's behaviour were first raised in the form of a complaint to ITV in May 2023. They were said to be about Martin's conduct with the crew while filming James Martin's Spanish Adventure.

He reportedly 'berated' fellow staff and even 'reduced them to tears' in front of other colleagues. Among the accusations also include allegedly changing schedules last minute, resulting in the team having very few hours of sleep before returning to work for the next day's shoot.

A producer, who is understood to have worked with James Martin previously, 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."

This is not the first time James Martin has faced complaints over his behaviour. In 2018, it was reported that he went into a 'foul-mouthed tirade' against crew after a drain in his house became blocked on James Martin's Saturday Morning.

What has been said about James Martin's bullying allegations?

Following the accusations raised against one of its stars, ITV has officially responded in a statement. A spokesperson from the broadcaster 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."

James Martin is yet to officially respond to the allegations. National World has reached out to his representatives for comment and are awaiting a response.