TV chef and host of Saturday Kitchen, Matt Tebbutt, has candidly shared his personal health battle.

The 51-year-old confessed that he feels he’s “losing the battle” in keeping up his sprightly on-screen persona.

On Gabby Logan’s podcast The Mid-Point, Matt discussed the necessity of transforming his lifestyle, particularly after enduring a “relentless” 14-year spell managing a pub in Abergavenny, a Welsh market town, with his wife Lisa.

“I fight getting old. Let’s just put that out there,” he declared unequivocally. When probed by Gabby on his methods of combatting age, Matt gave a humorous reply: “Well, I’m fighting it. I mean, I’m slowly losing that battle.

“But I’m fighting it like, ‘Yeah, I want to do this. Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s go to this party and then go out afterwards and then do three days on the trot at a festival’ and things like that. And I’m realising it’s quite draining at 51.”

In a further revelation, Matt shared that he has reduced his meat intake, stating: “I’ve noticed I’m a carnivore. I eat quite a lot of meat, but I’ve lessened the amount I eat. I eat a lot more vegetables these days. I eat a lot earlier than I ever have done.

“In terms of other stuff, I’m eating more pulses. If I want to go healthy as it were, I’ll reach for an Ottolenghi book [referring to chef Yotam Ottolenghi] and go into that.”