Chef James Martin had heartbreaking reason behind his 3 stone weight loss

TV chef James Martin has revealed what pushed him to overhaul his lifestyle and drop three stone.

The James Martin's Saturday Morning star opened up about his weight loss and the secret to his trimmer physique at the Bolton Food and Drink Festival on Monday (29 August).

The 50-year-old explained that he began to re-evaluate his habits after several of his friends got sick and sadly passed away during the pandemic.

Looking at his own life and weighing up what mattered, the celebrity chef said something needed to change and revealed the one simple habit he has adopted to aid his healthier lifestyle – upping his H2O intake.

According to the Manchester Evening News, he told the crowd: "I think when Covid hit, everyone started to re-evaluate their lives and what can you do better, and I think it was just a different focus on life.

"I lost three stone, and for me the main thing was cutting out fizzy drinks and I now drink 2.5 litres of water every day.

"When you get to 50, when you get the phone call and hear some of your mates are not very well, or that some of your mates have passed away, you just have a different outlook on life. You still have the same drive, but how you achieve that, you do things slightly differently.

"I don't really drink much alcohol, only about three or four units a month anyway, so I'm not much of a drinker - it was cutting out the fizzy drinks was the main thing for me.

"I think the problem when you're travelling from A to B all the time, you need that sugar hit, I don't drink tea or coffee, so fizzy drinks was the way I got it."

While he has incorporated more water into his diet, Martin said he hasn’t had to change what he eats nor his exercise regime to lose the weight.

He added: "There's been no gym, no running or anything like that. I've been eating exactly the same things. It's just the water. It's true."

Martin has been educating the nation with his cookery skills for over 25 years, having first began his TV career in 1996 with The Big Breakfast and Ready, Steady, Cook.

He then presented BBC weekend stalwart Saturday Kitchen before moving to ITV in 2017 for his current show, Saturday Morning, which sees him welcome celebrity guests and top chefs into his home.

The Yorkshire native hasn’t only enjoyed a career on the small screen but has also published more than 20 books, the first in 1998 called Eating in with James Martin.

He also owns several restaurants across the UK, and has his own cookery school.