‘I can’t even put a bet on myself now!’ James Martin expects to be offered job as new Top Gear host
The TV chef said he'd have a flutter on himself if the odds weren’t so short!
Former Saturday Kitchen presenter James Martin expects to be offered the job as the new host of Top Gear.
The popular chef has hinted to The Sun's TV Magazine that he'd even bet on himself to join the BBC2 series – if the odds weren't so short!
In an exclusive interview with Saturday’s magazine – free inside The Sun – petrol head and former motoring columnist James is just waiting for the phone to ring after discovering that he's the presenter expected to replace Chris Evans.
James, 44, says: “Apparently I’m the bookies’ favourite. I walked past a bookies in Leeds and saw my name on there, and I thought: ‘What the hell’s going on there?’ I was top of the list. But the phone hasn’t rung yet…
“I know that’s the rumour, but I don’t know where I’m going to fit it in. I can’t even put a bet on myself now because you lot [the press] have made the odds even!
"I enjoy my cars and I like the collecting of them, but Top Gear is a really tough show – it’s a different ball game."
James is currently hosting Fridays on This Morning with Countryfile's Anita Rani.
And after being labelled "wooden", "boring" and "painful to watch", he says he'd like to prove his critics wrong before thinking about Top Gear.
He said: “It’s certainly been a rude awakening for me. All of a sudden I’ve been slagged off left, right and centre.
"Unfortunately, on social media now, people feel they can say whatever they want and there’s not a lot I can do about it.
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"But I’ve had enough s**t thrown at me in my life – in all manner of different things – to worry about it, so it doesn’t bother me. All I can do with any programme is be honest, stay true to myself and work my a**e off. And when you consider that I’m severely dyslexic… I’ve never read a book in my life – so reading a script is hard.
“I’ve got so much to worry about with This Morning, so let me get that out of the way before I make a decision on anything else.”
Read the full interview with James in The Sun's TV Magazine, free with tomorrow's paper.
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