James Martin to hit boiling point in 100th live show on new tour

James’ fifth tour will include his 100th live show and comes after four sold out tours which have seen him cooking on some of the most famous stages in the country.

In 2025, James Martin Live will see the popular TV chef and best-selling author visit 20 amazing venues across England, Scotland and Wales, combining the perfect ingredients of mouth-watering dishes with his warm Yorkshire wit.

So how did James get to show 100?

“I’d been doing live demos at food festivals for years, and was at the Good Food Show one year, when someone from Live Nation had been dragged along by their wife,” he explained.

“I was always fortunate at events, my demos would be really popular and have full crowds and this guy couldn’t believe this half-hour stage show with food. He came up to me at the end and said you should take it on the road… And the rest is history.

“It’s amazing to think this is my fifth tour – and we’ll mark the 100th live show while we’re out on this tour… What a landmark!

“It’s funny, I remember, looking back, the incredible Keith Floyd said, ‘One day chefs will be rock and roll’ – and here we are.”

And in James Martin’s case, that’s truer than for most as he combines the live cookery show with his love of music.

“There have been a few chefs who have done tours, and even Ready Steady Cook did it 25 years ago, they haven’t all worked but it seems like something has clicked with my shows and that’s amazing,” he said.

“We spend a lot of time in the pre-production phase, thinking about and planning what we are going to do. I have the same producer as the Strictly Come Dancing live tours, and we have a brilliant team on board from Live Nation and Cuffe and Taylor.

“People ask what do the shows involve… It’s food, comedy, music and a great, great night out. And for four tours now, people seem to like it.

“Bringing that all together seems to be the secret recipe for success.”

And the landmark show seems to have inspired a reflective mood in James’ plans for the 2025 tour – which he describes as a chance for him to ‘share everything I’ve learned in 40 years of catering, 32 years of which have been on TV.’

The new tour is set to be a journey through recent retro food history, taking fans on a culinary exploration from the 50s through to the 80s, as well as a trip round the world – courtesy of James’ back catalogue of food travel shows.

“I started putting the show together with a blank piece of paper three months ago and now I’ve locked in about 80% of it,” James explained.

“The show will feature all new recipes which we’ve been developing already – and all new stories from my career.

“We’re going to be going back through time, looking at food from the decades, from the 50s and 60s through to the 80s with recipes and a couple of dishes from each one.

“What’s great now is that we have eight years of past catalogue with the ITV series, the global TV shows, taking in France, Spain, the US, the UK, there’s all that to feed from too.

“The research has been fascinating, going back to look at it all, and the 50s had some bloody hilarious food.”

Alongside the food – all prepared in James’ own inimitable style, with recipes specially designed to make audience members’ mouths water – James brings plenty of surprises to his live show.

Previous tours have seen him build the ‘biggest and best bacon and cheese butty’, perform ‘surgery’ on a Barbie doll to create a Baked Alaska and invite audience members to show off their tattoos.

But one common feature is the live music segment… And he’s already been working hard at it.

“I’ve got a few good surprises planned,” he teased. “I’ve just had something delivered from eBay for the intro section of the show and will be having it pimped up ready to rock.

“There’s a theme that’s going to involve a bicycle, which will run through the evening, and it’s going to be very funny.

“And then there’s the music! I have been rehearsing with the band for seven months already, just for that nine-minute segment, but that means that once we’re on the road and doing the shows, I can really enjoy it.

“It’s going to be a bit different this time to the last two tours – and we’ll be going all out with it at the end of the show.

“The music sections are always a real highlight! I remember The London Palladium show last year, a Sunday night, everyone on their feet, disco balls and lights – it was a real party time, and we want to make that happen again.

“People say ‘Why don’t you just record it – no one would know’, but I love to do it live.

“It’s something I think I learned doing Strictly Come Dancing – which was 19 years ago. Those dancers were multiple world champions, and there was me, a chef from Yorkshire. I didn’t want to go out there looking like an idiot on live Saturday night, prime-time TV and learnt to never underestimate a live performance.

“People think the live shows are going to be like my Saturday morning show, but it’s really not – it’s fast-paced, fun comedy, made by a great team and it is really cool.”

As if further proof was needed of James’ ‘rock n roll chef’ status, there’s one addition to this tour which he thinks seals the deal: “Every time we go out we make it better in every way – from visuals to content… And this time for the first time, they’re giving me a tour bus, so I must be doing something right! There is a kitchen on board, but I will not be using it.”

With almost 100 live shows under his belt, what does James look back on as his favourite touring memories?

“Every show is special. When I look at the list of places we’ll be going to this year, they are serious venues – Birmingham Symphony Hall, Newcastle O2, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. If I walked out there and was rubbish…” he shudders.

“When I’m in places like this, even rehearsals and sound checks are a ‘moment’ for me. You get time to look out at the venue and see all its glory, and I get goosebumps.

“But, on my last tour we played a Sunday night at The London Palladium. Walking out on that stage, seeing my mum and dad in the audience was magical. They knew how much I had worked and for how long to get there.

“I could see my dad and the look on his face. In the bar after he said: ‘You’ve done alright son’. It was such a kudos to be able to bring them there for that moment. That to me was not only a highlight of touring, but a highlight of my whole career.

“Who’d have thought setting out as a kid going to catering college, wanting to become a chef, that I’d end up selling out The London Palladium?

“A lot of other chefs were there that night too and having that acknowledgement from your peers is special.”

James cites the likes of Keith Floyd for breaking the mold of ‘matriarchal food lessons’ on TV – heading out on the road, as well as the Roux family for revolutionising the UK food scene at the highest level.

But the show which made him a household name, Ready Steady Cook, also had a key role in bringing high-end chefs to the masses, inspiring foodie families with their food bag tasks, creating tasty dishes under pressured deadlines on a tea-time telly slot.

“I’ll have been cooking on TV for 32 years by the time the tour comes round,” James reflects. “And food on TV has evolved a lot.

“Saturday morning used to be all about kids TV and look at it now – it’s all about food, and I’ve spent 18 years doing that. It’s a big chunk of a person’s life.

“Keith Floyd got TV food programmes away from the back bench with a matriarchal type giving lessons, and got TV cookery out and about showing off amazing food places.

“Now it has morphed into so many other things, there’s the competitive like Bake Off and MasterChef, there’s Saturday morning magazine shows with food, there’s my show where chefs come into the kitchen.

“The Roux family changed the face of food in the UK at the top level. But TV is what’s really brought it to the masses.

“People like food on TV for inspiration. In our office we talk through all sorts of ideas; food for a tenner, a fiver, but it’s not just about low-cost or ‘what can I do with a tin of beans?’. We look at anything from a £2 burger to a £400 3* Michelin meal… And those 3* chefs love a £2 burger from time to time!

“We try to make the TV show suit everybody and every budget. We had a guest recently ask for white truffle, which was selling at £3,000 a kilo.

“We got one for £70, and it came from near Basingstoke where there’s the oldest woodland in the UK. So yes, it was an expensive ingredient, but it had a story and provenance, and it’s also about treating people – and giving viewers the knowledge, which in that instance we thought was worth it.

“We’ll do something like that, then the next dish will be something very normal like chicken or fish.”

And when James is on the road, with an occasional day back at home to relax between shows, it’s those ‘normal’ meals he turns to too.

“What do I cook on a regular day at home? Roast chicken. Easy,” he says without hesitation.

“An hour and a quarter in the oven with some nice veg, green beans from the garden, tomatoes from the greenhouse, or have it in a sandwich.

“As a chef, it’s funny one; if you’re cooking for people at home, yes, you go and do your thing and get into the ‘process’. But if it’s just for everyday meals, most of us go for things like that – something simple but delicious; steak frites, or steak and a jacket potato, or a simple pasta, are my favourites.”

But is James Martin’s ‘simple pasta’ really that?

“Yes, it is! Just a couple of tins of tomatoes, with garlic and basil, and cook for 30 minutes with some good olive oil. Cooking it for a good time makes the difference.”

And probably a good chunk of butter for good measure.

Tickets are on sale now via cuffeandtaylor.com

James Martin Live 2025:

Feb-19 Leicester, De Montfort Hall

Feb-20 Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall

Feb-21 York, Barbican

Feb-22 Hull, Connexin Live

Feb-23 Newcastle, O2 City Hall Newcastle

Feb-25 Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall

Feb-27 Llandudno, Venue Cymru

Feb-28 Manchester, Bridgewater Hall

Mar-01 Birmingham, Symphony Hall

Mar-02 Cardiff, Wales Millennium Centre

Mar-03 Swansea, Swansea Arena

Mar-04 Bath, The Forum

Mar-06 Sheffield, City Hall

Mar-07 Aberdeen, P&J Live – Hall C

Mar-08 Glasgow, SEC Armadillo

Mar-09 Edinburgh, Usher Hall

Mar-11 Ipswich, Regent Theatre

Mar-12 Portsmouth, Guildhall

Mar-14 Southend, Cliffs Pavilion

Mar-15 London, Eventim Apollo