James Martin couldn’t afford to renovate house
James Martin, 51, admitted he once lived in a motorhome for two whole years after he bought his favourite rally car, the Ferrari 275 GTB. The Saturday Morning chef admitted it was either buying the car or do up his house, because he “couldn’t afford” to do both.
It was either buy the car or do my house up…
James Martin
The 1965 model is one of only seven in existence and the only right-hand drive version, making it a very rare collectable.
Chatting about his prized possession with Jodie Kidd on her YouTube show Kidd in a Sweet Shop, James told the story of how he managed to get his hands on it.
“I’ve had that for nearly 19 years,” he beamed.
“I tried to buy it and it sold to a German guy.
“And then I got a phonecall while I was on-air on Saturday Kitchen, my old show on the Beeb, and I had to decide on-air whether I was going to have it!”
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Jodie was stunned as he continued: “It was either buy the car or do my house up…
“And I lived in a motorhome for two years but I have the car!”
Laughing, he joked: “I couldn’t afford to do my house up!”
It is unknown how much James paid for the rare vehicle but in 2020, a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Long Nose sold for $3.08 million at Gooding & Company, making it the most valuable car ever sold online.
Elsewhere in the episode, James surprised viewers with his vast car collection, as fans came to realise just how passionate he was about motoring itself.
As he and Jodie gushed over his first edition Pirelli Escort, they decided to take it out for a drive.
She grinned as they flew down a forest road: “You’ve got some beautiful cars and these make you smile, it’s just so much fun!”
Their topic of conversation moved onto the Pagani Zonda, which, it turned out, James hates more than most things.
“If you want to be quick, then buy an Audi Etron GT RS, that’d beat a Pagani Zonda any day of the week!” he advised.
Jodie suddenly began to realise a pattern in his constant bashing of the vehicle, and said: “You just don’t like Pagani’s, do you?”
James quickly interrupted: “I just don’t like certain modern supercars.
“Bit like Ferrari, that ridiculous thing, that stupid one-seater that you have to drive with a helmet on.
“The reason you have to drive with drive with a helmet on is because you look like a right… driving it!” he shrieked, referring to the Ferrari Monza.
He added: “I’m not being rude…” before Jodie burst out laughing and issued an apology to Ferrari fans.
“Sorry to anyone who’s just out a massive deposit down on their Ferrari,” she winced as the TV cook tried to justify his comments.
“It’s terrible!” he exclaimed, refusing to hold back.
“Why would you buy it?! Is it a pretty car?!”
It comes shortly after the pair had a heated discussion about which was worth the money; the Zonda or the Mercedes 300sl.
James said of his nemesis the Pagani: “It’s not worth as much as the 300sl and you still look like a d**k! I’d still look like a d**k driving a Pagani Zonda.”
Meanwhile, James was left under pressure with the latest episode of his cooking show.
The star met his culinary match in Great British Menu two-time winner Daniel Clifford on his ITV show James Martin’s Saturday Morning.
Daniel was creating a soup based recipe, and explaining how to swap different vegetables out in the dish, when he asked James to assist him by adding a “beautiful cap of caviar” to one of the elements of the dish.
As James completed the task, he joked: “I feel like I’m under pressure in his kitchen now” and admitted Daniel’s way of doing things had “stressed” him out.
In the comedy exchange the guest quipped: “Now you know how we all feel James.”
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