James Martin shares health update after cancer diagnosis: ‘Onwards and upwards!’

‘James Martin’s Saturday Morning’ host recently underwent surgery for facial cancer

TV chef James Martin has shared an update on his health after undergoing surgery for cancer.

The formerSaturday Kitchen host, 51, had surgery to remove facial cancer after his first diagnosis in 2018.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine on Monday morning (16 April), Martin was asked how he was feeling following the surgery.

“Yes, the stitches have fallen out. As you know, the last time I was on, I was in the middle of operations,” he said. “As we speak, the stitches have fallen out of my body at the moment and that’s all clear. Onwards and upwards!”

In response, host Lorraine Kelly said: “I’m really pleased, it’s great, great news!”

Martin first went public with his diagnosis last year when he apologised for a leaked audio tape that captured him swearing at his TV crew during a recording of James Martin’s Saturday Morning.

As Martin issued an apology for the tape, he revealed that his behaviour followed a culmination of emotional events in his life, including the death of his grandfather and his own cancer diagnosis.

He said he was sorry for “any offence or upset caused” after it emerged he was reportedly spoken to by bosses at the channel following a complaint in May from an employee.

Apologising to the crew, he told The Sun: “The end of 2017 was one of the most fraught and difficult periods of my life. I was dealing with the death of my last living grandparent, my grandfather, and on account of work commitments, I could not attend his funeral.

James Martin told Lorraine Kelly the stitches from his facial surgery had fallen out (Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

“Later that month I was burgled at night by a team of masked men, who entered my house while my partner Louise was at home alone and I was away working. I was devastated that she had to go through that alone.”

He explained that he had undergone surgery after being diagnosed with cancer on his face, which he “couldn’t do until two days before Christmas when we had finished filming”.

Martin continued: “Since then [the cancer] has returned on several occasions and I have to have regular treatments.

“After all this stress, I was in a very emotional state, and when after filming in early January 2018 I discovered my home had been flooded while filming, I was extremely upset. I can only say I am human and following a build-up of personal life pressure, I admit that I overreacted regarding the damage to my home.”

In November, Martin gave an update on his health while on tour at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, telling the crowd he had been through “a lot of s****” with cancer”.

“I will be back fighting at the end of February but I’m going on a little bit of a break to get that sorted,” he said.

The TV chef is currently filming his weekend programme James Martin’s Saturday Morning, which he records every week at his Hampshire home with celebrity guests.

“I feel like I’ve found my home. Well I guess I have, it is in my home. I love that we get guests coming back,” he told Kelly.