© GETTY James was 29 when Barbara won a meal cooked by him at her home He said they clicked instantly after she bid £18,000 at an auction for him to cook for her at her Chelsea home.
But James would later explain their lives were just too different - and he would get star-struck when she hung out with the Hollywood elite such as Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry.
Barbara tried to buy James an £180,000 Aston Martin, and he had to draw the line. © ITV/GETTY 'We're going to fall out' James Martin's warning to wealthy ex-girlfriend Barbara Broccoli "It wasn't as if it was my birthday or Christmas - it was just a spur of the moment thought," James said. "In the end I said, 'If I want something, I'll work for it.
Just drop it or we're going to fall out over this'. "It was a defining moment in our relationship. Deep down, I knew there was always going to be an imbalance. "He later said their split was "for the best". © GETTY Barbara tried to buy James an Aston Martin © GETTY James said Barbara's wealth caused an "To walk away from someone you love and who loves you that much is hard," he explained at the time. "Maybe it was the daftest thing I have done in my life but it was probably the most sensible, too. "James has opened up in the past about how his dedication to his illustrious TV career has come at a price.
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