James Martin slams BBC and claims they didn’t give him ‘two jobs’ because of his Yorkshire accent
Celebrity chef has taken a pop at his former employer and claimed they once turned him down for work because of the way he spoke
JAMES Martin has claimed he was turned down by the BBC for two presenting jobs because of his Yorkshire accent.
The celebrity chef fronted their hit breakfast show Saturday Kitchen Live for over a decade before quitting last year.
Speaking to l, James claimed: “I didn’t get two jobs from the BBC because of my accent.
“I can’t say what jobs they were, but it was before I moved to ITV.
“It happened more than two years ago. I know because they told me [it was because of my accent].”
James, 45, said the issue wasn’t the reason he left the programme to front ITV’s rival show Saturday Morning With James Martin however.
He added: “That’s not the reason I left.
“But you’d be wrong if you said they don’t discriminate against people because of their accents.”
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC has a huge variety of presenters with different accents and from different backgrounds.
"The fact that James presented Saturday Kitchen, Home Comforts, Kitchen Invaders, Stately Suppers, Operation Meet the Street, Operation Hospital Food, Ready Steady Cook, The Box, The Real Italian Job and appeared in numerous others shows for the BBC shows that we have no problem with his accent.”
James' popularity has grown since moving to ITV and thousands tune in every weekend to watch his new show.
Earlier this month his pal Ainsley Harriet claimed his fame had come at some cost however, as he alleged the chef was “warring” with Paul Hollywood over who was better known.
The Can’t Cook Won’t Cook star, 60, has spilled the beans to , revealing that after Paul’s star began to rise, James found got whisked into a rivalry with him.
Ainsley told the paper: “Paul has come through and been phenomenal.
“His style is very different. They’re both brilliant cooks – but with James there is a little bit of tension there.”
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