James Martin bid his Saturday Morning viewers a fond farewell as the show is being taken off the air for the summer – and he did not explain exactly when the show will be back

James Martin hinted he will be vacationing in the UK while his show is on hiatus(Image: ITV)

James Martin has revealed he is shunning exotic holidays and choosing to relax in the UK as his Saturday Morning TV show is paused for the summer. The 52-year-old TV chef took to the air for a final time this weekend ahead of an extended break.

The star has been hosting ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning since 2017 – but fans will have to go for several weeks without seeing him on screens. On Saturday, the host explained that his show is being put on ice for the summer.

He did not give an explicit time or date that the long-running series would return – but did shed light on what he would be doing in the interim. After thanking his guests and co-stars, he engaged in some banter with his crew.

When the episode came to an end, James announced: “That is also for the series. Me and the crew are heading off on sunny holidays. Different climates.” Turning to his team, he asked: “Where are you going?”

A crew member could be heard replying that they would be going to Portugal – leading James to reveal he was looking forward to a staycation rather than jetting off to the sun.

He revealed: “Yorkshire for me.” Saturday’s episode brought to a close the current season of the show – which was forced to be shorter than usual due to a conflicting event.

He told fans: “Because of the Derby on ITV1 this afternoon, it is a shorter episode than usual today. But we still have time for one more dish.”

When the episode ended, he made sure to explain that he was grateful to his guests, crew and viewers for making his show a continued success. He said: “That’s all we have got time for today, a massive thank you to all of my guests.”

He continued: “To my food team, you can sleep better now. Daniel and Sally, and of course, Harry Redknapp and Carly Paoli.”

James later teased when his show would be back on the air – but did not commit to an exact date. He said: “We will be back here with more top chefs, other brilliant guests, and more delicious recipes later on in the year.”

And signing off, he told viewers: “Until then, thanks for watching. Have a wonderful, fantastic summer. I’ll see you out there wherever you are. Thanks for watching, see you again soon, goodbye for now.”

ITV has been making headlines in recent weeks over the brutal changes they have been making behind-the-scenes, reportedly leading to staff redundancies and even reports Lorraine Kelly is considering quitting the network after her number of shows per year was cut in half and her time slot hugely reduced.

ITV revealed last month: “From January 2026, Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes to run from 6am to 9.30am daily, and will transfer to be produced by ITV News at ITN at their base at Gray’s Inn Road in London. GMB will be made by a dedicated team within ITV News at ITN.

“This change will see ITV bring all its national news gathering into one hub, with Good Morning Britain benefitting from the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins, for the website and for digital platforms including ITVX.”

It was added: “Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will continue to be produced by ITV Studios and will be broadcast from a new location in central London.” Drastic changes have not yet been made for weekend scheduling.