TV chef Matt Tebbutt has been confirmed as the first permanent host of Saturday Kitchen since presenter James Martin’s departure last year.

Matt will front the weekly 90-minute cookery programme on a bi-weekly basis, a BBC spokesman said.

Following James’s exit in March last year, the show has had a different presenter each week.

Matt has presented Saturday Kitchen since April last year, hosting roughly every five or six weeks, along with other chefs including Michel Roux Jr, Tom Kerridge, Donal Skehan, Lorraine Pascale, John Torode and Angela Hartnett.

He has been a hit with fans of the long-running show – which has been a Saturday morning fixture since 2002 – who have called for him to be a more regular addition.

In response to a fan who had asked for Matt to “stop playing around with amateurs”, the official Saturday Kitchen Twitter account wrote: “You’ll be pleased to hear that you’ll be seeing a lot more of @matt_tebbutt as soon he will be hosting every other week!”

The 44-year-old chef hosts Channel 4′s Food Unwrapped, and has also appeared on the BBC’s The Great British Menu and Great British Food Revival and the Good Food channel’s Market Kitchen.

James Martin
James Martin (BBC/Cactus TV)

He attended Leiths School of Food and Wine and trained with renowned chef Marco Pierre White.

James had been at the helm of Saturday Kitchen for 10 years from 2006 until 2016, and recently said he was surprised by the “fuss” that was caused by his decision to leave.