The one thing James Martin would never do as a celebrity chef

While James Martin is one of the biggest celebrity chefs out there, he's admitted that he won't be following in the footsteps of the likes of Tom Kerridge and the Hairy Bikers anytime soon.

In a rare interview with i News, the 45-year-old cook admitted that he would never pen a diet book - despite it being a successful venture for many of his fellow TV chefs.

James admitted in the chat that he's not set to jump on the healthy eating bandwagon - mostly due to the backlash he'd cop from his family.

Asked if he'd ever write a diet recipe book, he joked, “Not as long as my family were alive. They’d probably disown me.”

The former Saturday Kitchen host revealed that his upbringing on a farm taught him to enjoy food - rather than simply see it as fuel, as he claims some people do.

He explained,“There are people out there who see food as fuel and don’t enjoy it.

“I was brought up on a farm. We produce food – that’s what we do. And we want people to enjoy the food that takes us a long time to produce.”

James has recently ventured to America, for his ITV show James Martin's American Adventure. And whilst there, he admitted that it certainly wasn't diet-friendly food that he was chowing down on.

He recently confessed on Loose Women, "I said to myself before I left, I would never eat anything bigger than my head. That lasted about three-and-a-half minutes."

Of course, James is perhaps most well-known for his role hosting BBC's Saturday Kitchen. The chef however stepped down from the job in 2016 after 10 years - after witnessing a man drop dead right in front of him.

He's since shared that the shocking incident lead him to re-evalute his own priorites - admitting that he realised he had been working far too much, for too long.

In his interview with i News, he even revealed that he required an operation around that time himself. However, he began to question his priorities when he couldn't find a date to fit it in around his busy work schedule.

MORE: James Martin reveals the reason why he’ll never join The Great British Bake Off

James confessed, “You have to question it when your doctor says: ‘We’ve got to operate’ and you can’t find a date in your diary.

“When you can’t fit in a date to have even a doctor’s appointment or a surgery, you think, hold on a minute, this is a bit nuts. I don’t mind working, but this is a bit crazy.”

And it appears the decision was definitely for the best, with the celebrity chef now confessing, "Now, I'm in a great place. I'm a lot less stressed than I was before."