Popular TV chef James Martin has shared heartbreaking news with fans as he reveals he was diagnosed with cancer on his face.

It comes after he apologised for his rant on the set of an ITV show, seeing crew members accused Martin of 'bullying and intimidating behaviour'.

The accusation was made by a producer whilst filming James Martin's Spanish Adventure, where he reportedly 'berated' staff and even 'reduced them to tears'.

Now the chef has confirmed that he has undergone surgery, which took place two days before Christmas when filming had finished. 

James Martin reveals cancer diagnosis 

Taking to Twitter, Martin shared a statement saying he was "shocked by what had happened".

He added: "Firstly, I would like to publicly and sincerely apologise to the crew involved in this incident, as I did at the time. I have always strived to keep my private life private.

"However since details of a conversation, which was secretly recorded in January 2018, are now five years later being made public by a former member of our production team, I have decided to make a statement. The end of 2017 was one of the most fraught and difficult periods of my life.

"I was dealing with the death of my last living grandparent, my grandfather, and on account of work commitments, I could not attend his funeral. Later that month I was burgled at night by a team of masked men, who entered my house while my partner Louise was at home alone and I was away working. I was devastated that she had to go through it alone."

Martin also shared details of his cancer diagnosis: "I was then diagnosed with cancer on my face and I had to have surgery, which I couldn't do until two days before Christmas when we had finished filming. Since then it has returned on several occasions and I have to have regular treatments.

"After all this stress I was in a very emotional state, and when after filming in early January 2018 I discovered my home had been flooded while filming, I was extremely upset. I can only say I am human and following a build-up of personal life pressure, I admit that I overreacted regarding the damage to my home."

The producer who accused Martin spoke to Deadline about the alleged incident, as they told the outlet: "What’s remarkable is I saw this behaviour on every project I did with him and it feels conscious. I think he just feels like it’s OK to behave like that."

An ITV spokesperson said the broadcaster contacted Blue Marlin, the TV production behind Martn's show, after receiving a complaint in May from members of the production team of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure.

They added that after discussing how the issues were being dealt with, ITV made recommendations to Blue Marlin including “sharing best practice of some of our own relevant procedures around staff welfare and reiterating our supplier code of conduct”.

The statement added: “At ITV people and their welfare are our highest priority. The production companies who make shows for us have primary responsibility for the duty of care of everyone they work with, both on and off-screen.

“We make clear our expectations in this regard as part of our pre-green-light duty of care processes. This includes having appropriate independent controls in place to enable everyone who works on their shows to confidently and confidentially raise concerns.”