James Martin admits ‘people take the mick out of me’ over controversial gardening ritual

James Martin has admitted that people poke fun at him for how often he completes a task, as it helps him “switch off”.

The celebrity , who previously presented ‘s Saturday Kitchen, revealed that if non-stop rain prevents him from completing the common task, he gets angry.

In a recent interview with the Telegraph, explained that people “take the mick” out of him for his habit, with the chef confessing that he completes it up to four times each week.

James said: “I’ve got a John Deere sit-down lawn-mower with headlights and people take the mick out of me because I might mow the lawn four times a week.

“If we’ve had non-stop rain and I can’t cut the grass, I get p****d off. But I also think mowing helps me switch off. I can have a crazy day at work, but I’ll come home and happily get on my mower at midnight.”

He added that a garden “keeps you busy”, something he believes is “great” for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (), which he said “most chefs probably do” suffer from.

The recommends a single cut once a week or fortnight, depending on how the grass grows, in the spring and autumn, and once each week in summer, although this can be a fortnight or longer when there hasn’t been much rain.

James, who grows his own fruit and vegetables, has previously shared snaps of his expansive garden, magazine reported in 2021, including shots of his soil beds.

The James Martin’s Saturday Morning star, who lives in Hampshire, also has an outdoor cooking area that has appeared on This Morning and includes a wood-fired oven, cupboards and benches.

He previously confessed to accidentally starting a fire at his home due to an incident involving his homemade Italian pizza oven.

Speaking to on the Grilling podcast, he said: “I set my side of my house on fire. That was a good one because… I mean, I love builders and particularly… a certain group of Irish builders, who are fantastic, that decided to build an Italian pizza oven roof.

“Instead of having metal, [they] built it out of wood, which is quite handy.” He continued: “Next minute, there was an almighty bang. It was like, honestly, it was [a] huge explosion, and you get bits of lamb chops, pork chops, sausages flying over the top of this house. It was massive.”

Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the accident, with the chef even joking that the family quickly picked up the food off the floor to carry on with their party.