‘People come on our show because they like what we do’
TV chef Jamie Oliver, 43, is back on our screens with his childhood pal Jimmy Doherty, rustling up top weekend feasts from their end-of-pier café in Southend…
Weekend recipes and general foodie hi-jinks – can we expect more of that on Friday Night Feast? The show is a nice balance of cooking, celebrities and campaigning – and on Friday evenings, it just fits. We genuinely work hard to make the audience happy. It’s the sixth series and it feels like it’s getting better and better. You’ve got a different celebrity guest each week… We’ve got some fantastic guests on this series. Danny Devito is a Hollywood legend and he came to Southend Pier, especially to see us. That’s a two-hour trip out of London for six hours of filming. Our show is a major time commitment, but people come because they like what we do and they love food. Danny calls everyone “baby”, “Hey baby, thanks baby…” Who else have you got on? Harry Hill, who is as funny and chaotic as you’d expect – and his story is an interesting one. He used to be a doctor and spent time working out in India. He has memories of how good the hospital canteen food was out there, so our job was to try to relive that for him. We found one of the chefs from Harry’s time there and we recreated this thali – which is like a platter of different curries – with the bread that Harry remembered. On Southend Pier… What about Stephen Fry? He was on banging form. I don’t know how we’re going to edit that show because it was too funny. Utterly brilliant. We talked about everything from cake decorating to personal hygiene. And Jodie Whittaker, aka the new Doctor Who… She was wonderful. What you see is what you get with Jodie. She’s a grafter, she’s enthusiastic and she’s everything you want her to be. Just like Jessica Ennis, who’s also on this series. Gold standard – and our first Dame. As a dad of girls [Jamie has daughters Poppy, 16, Daisy, 15, and Petal, nine, along with sons Buddy, eight, and River, two, with his wife Jools], it’s amazing to have these extraordinary female role models on the show. So you’ve known [co-presenter] Jimmy Doherty since you were two years old? He’s so good. I’m so lucky to work with him. I’ve got the advantage of having grown up with him since the age of two, so I know him inside out, frontwards and backwards… Is he going to be your best man when you renew your wedding vows to Jools? Yeah! Me and Jools are going to renew our vows to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We don’t get out much or have too many parties, so we thought we’d give it a go. She loves the idea and thinks it’s romantic. I think 20 years is a massive achievement. And if we get to 40 years, we’ll do it again. What have you learned in all those years of marriage? That’s a bloody good question! To never hold grudges. Move on. I’m so grateful to her [Jools]. I couldn’t do what I do without her nailing all the kids and family stuff. We’re a good team. She keeps me on my toes, doesn’t take any s**t, she’s kind, she’s funny… At some point in life, you have to go, “I did good there. I lucked out and punched well above my weight…”