Great British Bake Off may have smashed records to become the most watched TV show of the year, but one person who most certainly didn’t tune in was Saturday Kitchen host James Martin.
Martin, who hosts BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen Live, says he is firm friends with GBBO judge Mary Berry but is dismissive of what cooking tips the show offers.
“I don’t watch it,” admitted Martin, in an interview with the Radio Times. “I don’t learn anything from it. What am I going to learn as a chef? It’s an entertainment show, not a cookery show.”
Martin, who began his career as a pastry chef, went on to explain that he has given Berry a few cooking tips. “I actually taught Mary Berry to make my eclairs,” he said.
Berry is one of the guests set to appear on the third series of Martin’s Home Comforts, due in the new year, which he says will have a new look.
“It’s completely different to the previous version,” he says. “The guests will be genuine friends of mine, like Michael Parkinson and Mary Berry. I’m not an actor, so when you see Antonio Carluccio and me, or me and Gennaro Contaldo together, we’re not faking it, it’s real. As a television programme, that’s magical.”
