Image heating apparatus includes an image heating rotation member, for heating an image on a recording material, a driving device rotationally driving the image heating rotation member, an external heating member including an exothermic member heating the image heating rotation member in a way that contacts the image heating rotation member, a contacting-and-separating device for making the external heating member contact and separate from the image heating rotation member, a conduction control device for controlling conduction to the exothermic member so that a temperature of the external heating member becomes a target temperature, a contacting-and-separating state detecting device for detecting a contacting-and-separating state of the external heating member, and an abnormality detecting device for detecting an abnormality of the contacting-and-separating state of the external heating member rendered contacting and separating by the contacting-and-separating device, based on the detection by the contacting-and-separating state detecting device.