Martel Maxwell is a Scottish television presenter, journalist and novelist best known for BBC One’s Homes Under the Hammer. She joined the programme in 2017 after working in newspaper journalism, celebrity reporting and broadcasting. Her career also includes contributions to Lorraine, The One Show and BBC Scotland, alongside the publication of her novel Scandalous.
Born on 9 March 1977, she is 49 as of November 2026. She grew up in Dundee, studied law and later chose journalism as her profession. Away from television, she is married to Jamie Parratt and has three sons. The couple’s experience of building a family home adds a personal connection to her property work. This article explores her background, professional milestones and family life, while separating established information from unsupported claims about her salary, wealth and height.
Who Is Martel Maxwell?
Maxwell is a broadcaster and writer whose work spans property television, entertainment journalism, factual reporting and fiction. Although many viewers recognise her from renovation visits, her media career began before she joined the BBC property series.
Her professional background includes interviewing celebrities, reporting on different subjects and presenting stories for national and Scottish audiences. She has also worked behind the microphone as a documentary narrator.
Her notable work includes:
- Presenting Homes Under the Hammer on BBC One.
- Contributing celebrity and entertainment coverage to Lorraine.
- Reporting for The One Show.
- Appearing in BBC Scotland programmes, including Landward and On the Road.
- Publishing the romantic comedy Scandalous.
- Writing newspaper commentary and providing documentary narration.
These credits explain why her biography extends beyond a single presenting role.
Martel Maxwell Young
Maxwell grew up in Dundee and attended the High School of Dundee. She later studied law at the University of Edinburgh, initially following a different professional direction from the broadcasting career she eventually developed.
Her younger years also connect with her family story. She knew her future husband at school, and their school’s alumni magazine describes a friendship that began in childhood before becoming a relationship years later.
Dundee remained significant after she started working elsewhere. Her career took her to London and other locations, but Scottish broadcasting, newspaper writing and family connections maintained that relationship with her home city.
Her early background therefore provides more than a list of educational milestones. It helps explain the continuing connection between her Scottish roots and work reaching audiences throughout the UK.
From Studying Law to Newspaper Journalism
After studying law, Maxwell changed direction and entered journalism through The Sun’s graduate training scheme. Her official biography describes a two-year apprenticeship that included postgraduate newspaper training at City University in London.
She gained experience across several reporting areas, including news, features and investigations. Training also took her to different locations in Britain and to Sydney before entertainment journalism became a particular focus.
This progression is important because her television career followed practical reporting experience. Interviewing contributors, identifying the central facts and explaining a story were already part of her work.
Her legal background should also be described accurately. She studied law and trained towards a legal career, but that does not automatically establish that she subsequently worked as a practising solicitor.
Celebrity Interviews and Early Television Work
Entertainment reporting became a major part of her newspaper career. Her work on The Sun’s Bizarre showbusiness desk involved celebrity stories and interviews with established actors and musicians.
Her documented interview subjects include Tom Cruise, Kylie Minogue, Sir Sean Connery and Nicole Kidman. She later contributed entertainment coverage to Lorraine, bringing her reporting experience into a television setting.
Celebrity interviews require preparation, clear questions and the ability to respond naturally. Those skills also matter in factual broadcasting, where contributors must explain their experiences to viewers.
Her transition into television therefore involved continuity as well as change. The format moved from written reporting to spoken interviews and filmed features, while gathering information and communicating a story remained central to the job.
Homes Under the Hammer and Her Presenting Role
Maxwell joined Homes Under the Hammer in 2017. Her appointment was announced in March, with appearances scheduled to begin that June during the programme’s 21st series.
She joined Martin Roberts and Dion Dublin after Lucy Alexander’s departure. The role brought her reporting experience together with an established personal interest in property.
The programme follows buildings purchased at auction and returns to discover what buyers have done with them. Projects can involve refurbishment, redevelopment, rental plans or creating a home.
Presenting these stories means helping viewers understand the original property, the buyer’s intentions and the eventual result. Conversations with contributors are essential because each project involves different motivations, decisions and circumstances. The renovation provides the visual transformation, while the people explain how and why it happened.
Other Television Work, Narration and Scandalous
Her other broadcasting credits include The One Show, BBC Scotland’s Landward and On the Road. These programmes demonstrate experience beyond celebrity interviews and property renovations.
She has also provided narration for Inside Central Station. Documentary narration requires clear delivery that supports footage and explains events without the narrator appearing on screen.
Her writing career includes Scandalous, published by Penguin in April 2010. The romantic comedy follows half-sisters Max and Lucy Summers through relationships, celebrity attention and press scrutiny.
The novel’s showbusiness setting connects with her reporting background, but it remains fiction. Its characters and events should not be treated as an autobiographical account. Alongside her newspaper work, the book illustrates the different forms her storytelling has taken.
Martel Maxwell Husband
Her husband is Jamie Parratt, whose surname also appears as Parrat in some online coverage. They knew each other at school in Dundee, giving their relationship a connection that predates her television career.
Their school’s alumni magazine recounts that they met as children and shared a teenage first kiss before becoming a couple years later. Maxwell has also described marrying the first boy she kissed.
The couple have three sons and built their family home in Scotland. These are aspects of family life she has discussed publicly.
Her husband’s connection with property also features in interviews about her career. However, publicly shared background should be distinguished from assumptions about their finances, current business arrangements or private relationship.
What Does Martel Maxwell Husband Do?
A 2017 interview described Jamie as running a commercial property business. This provides a documented connection with the property industry alongside the couple’s experience of building a family home.
Commercial property generally concerns premises used for business purposes, although the interview does not establish every detail of his responsibilities or activities.
The date matters when describing his occupation. A historical interview confirms what was reported at that time; it does not independently verify a current job title or business position.
His professional background offers context for the family’s interest in buildings and development. It should not be used to infer the couple’s income or suggest that Maxwell holds professional construction qualifications through her husband’s work.
Martel Maxwell Kids
She has three sons: Monty, Chester and Guthrie. Motherhood is part of the family background she has chosen to discuss publicly, particularly when describing the demands of television work.
When she joined Homes Under the Hammer in 2017, her youngest son was still a baby. In an interview at the time, she explained returning to filming after his birth and spending time at home between work commitments.
Her account highlighted the practical balance between travelling for a programme and caring for young children. It also provided context for an important career opportunity arriving during a busy period of family life.
Details about her children are best limited to publicly shared information, without speculation about their private lives or future plans.
Martel Maxwell House
Maxwell and her husband built their family home in Scotland. She has spoken about developing the site, arranging essential services and taking an interest in how the finished house would look and function.
In an interview around the time she joined the BBC property programme, she described starting with a site where a cattle grid was already present. Water and electricity were among the services that needed to be brought in.
This experience gives her a personal connection with the decisions involved in creating a home. She has particularly discussed enjoying the design side of the process.
However, descriptions or photographs of a house do not establish its current market value, the amount invested in it or the owners’ overall financial position.
Martel Maxwell Salary
Her personal salary has not been reliably established in the sources reviewed for this profile. Her career includes presenting, narration and writing, but public credits do not disclose the value of individual contracts.
A payment for one assignment would also not necessarily represent annual earnings. Different types of media work can involve separate contracts, schedules and responsibilities.
Without a documented disclosure, claims about an exact yearly salary or fee per episode would be speculative. The same applies to comparisons based solely on another presenter’s reported earnings.
The supported picture is that she has worked across several areas of the media. Assigning a precise income to that career requires evidence beyond programme appearances and professional biographies.
How Much Is Martel Maxwell Worth?
There is no independently verified net worth figure in the sources reviewed. Estimates published without an explanation of their evidence should therefore be treated as unconfirmed.
Net worth is different from salary. It involves the value of assets after liabilities are deducted, requiring financial information that a television biography does not provide.
A broadcasting career, a published novel and ownership of a family home are not enough to calculate that figure. They do not reveal contract income, borrowing, ownership arrangements or other relevant details.
For readers seeking a factual profile, her documented career offers a stronger basis for understanding her achievements than an unsupported wealth estimate. An exact amount should not be presented as established information.
Martel Maxwell Height
Her exact height has not been reliably verified in the sources reviewed. An unsupported measurement should therefore not be repeated as a confirmed biographical detail.
Television appearances and photographs cannot establish an accurate height. Camera position, perspective and footwear can all affect how tall someone appears, particularly when comparing people standing at different distances from the lens.
Height is also separate from the professional background that explains her public profile. Her reporting experience, presenting credits and writing are documented aspects of her career.
Where an exact physical measurement lacks a dependable source, the clearest answer is to acknowledge that uncertainty. Adding a precise number would make the profile less reliable rather than more complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Old Is Martel Maxwell?
She was born on 9 March 1977 and is 49 as of November 2026. She grew up in Dundee, Scotland.
Who Is Her Husband?
She is married to Jamie Parratt, whose surname also appears as Parrat in some coverage. They knew each other at school in Dundee.
Has She Got Children?
Yes, she has three sons: Monty, Chester and Guthrie. She has spoken publicly about balancing motherhood with television filming.
What Does Her Husband Do?
A 2017 interview described Jamie as running a commercial property business. His current business responsibilities have not been independently confirmed here.
What Is She Doing Now?
Her professional work includes presenting Homes Under the Hammer, documentary narration and newspaper commentary. Reporting in April 2026 also documented her property filming in Dundee.
How Much Does She Earn?
Her salary has not been reliably disclosed in the sources reviewed. Exact annual earnings or payments per episode should therefore be treated as unverified.
What Is Her Net Worth?
No independently verified net worth figure has been established. Her television career and family home do not provide enough information to calculate her overall wealth.
Conclusion
Martel Maxwell’s public career brings together journalism, television presenting, narration and fiction writing. Her familiar role on Homes Under the Hammer followed newspaper training and entertainment reporting, giving her experience in interviewing people before she began guiding viewers through property transformations.
Her Dundee upbringing remains an important part of that story. Family connections, Scottish broadcasting and newspaper work link her national career with the place where she grew up. Building a home with her husband also provides a personal connection to the subject of her best-known programme.
A useful biography should make those connections clear while respecting the limits of public information. Her professional credits and shared family background are documented; precise claims about salary, net worth and height require evidence that has not been established here.
