Our favourite celebrity chefs: voted for by Saga Magazine readers

Thousands of Saga Magazine readers took part in our online poll in May to have their say in who would be named our favourite celebrity chef. We polled more than 500,000 newsletter subscribers so they could cast their vote - and they did, in their thousands.

The winner, capturing more than 22% of the total vote was TV chef and presenter James Martin.

The Yorkshire-born chef has been on our TV screens for almost 20 years, making his debut on shows including Ready Steady Cook and the Big Breakfast.

He is currently presenting James Martin's Saturday Morning on ITV and his latest recipe book Cheese is in the shops now.

When we told the 52-year-old that he was our readers' choice, he was delighted.

"What an honour to hear so many of the Saga Magazine newsletter subscribers took time out to vote, not only that, but I also won Favourite Celebrity Chef!" he told us.

"Thank you to all that voted and I hope you continue enjoying watching my shows and thank you for all your support."

To show his appreciation, James has shared his Tomato Tart with Dolcelatte recipe for us, from Cheese.

The second favourite celebrity chef in our poll was national cooking treasure Mary Berry, her recipes for Leek and Potato Soup and Fruit Scones are the two most popular recipes on our website.

Third was Jamie Oliver, who has transformed people's cooking habits with his campaigns over the past decades. You loved his air fryer tips earlier this year too.

Other popular chefs included Rick Stein, Raymond Blanc and Nigel Slater.

Saga Magazine's editorial director Louise Robinson said: "Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for their favourite chefs.

"My own favourite is a tie between Fanny Craddock - remember poor Johnny? - and The Galloping Gourmet. I loved his patter and the bit at the end where he brought a member of the audience up to share a candlelit dinner. 

"Of the contemporary cooks, I'm very much team Mary Berry, who charmed everyone at Saga Magazine's 40th birthday party."