disclosed his heartfelt regrets about not engaging more with his familys horticultural wisdom while hosting the latest instalment of his Saturday morning cooking show.
The acclaimed 52-year-old chef, who welcomed talents including Lesley Walters and choirmaster Gareth Malone to his programme, took quite a poignant turn when he tackled the subject of tomatoes in the kitchen talk.
Sharing the platform with culinary experts Sat Bains and Francesco Mazzei, James reflected on his personal attempts at cultivating tomatoes and his bittersweet reflections.
“Varying degrees of success this year, that’s one of the fascinations with growing your own stuff.
“And one of the regrets that I have now is sadly, I lost both my grandfather and my uncle, not taking more advice, paying more notice really in their expertise when they were growing the tomatoes.
James Martin opens up on lifelong family ‘regret’ on Saturday Morning. (Image: ITV)
James Martin was inspired by his grandad and uncle to build a greenhouse at his Hampshire home. (Image: BBC)
“You sort of go down there ‘why can’t yours be the same as theirs was?’
“Because they’ve got love and care and attention all the time I guess really.”
Despite the regret, the chef shared his persistent efforts each year: “But it’s just nice to give it a go every sort of season.”
While his fathers background as a catering manager at Castle Howard is somewhat public, less is known about his grandfather and uncle.
James Martin confessed he regretted not taking more advice from his grandfather and uncle on growing vegetables. (Image: ITV)
But James had previously touched upon the inspiration behind his greenhouse in Hampshire on Saturday Morning.
He shared: “When I bought this house the very first thing I built was that greenhouse to remind me of my grandparents.
“My grandad was an amazing veg producer together with my uncle and that’s why I fell in love with food I think.”
James Martin’s Saturday Morning continues every Saturday at 9.30am on ITV.