ON THE COVER Jamie Oliver “Jools Has Been Incredible”
Celeb chef Jamie says his wife has been a tower of strength
Celebrities’ marriages are often short-lived and fraught with drama, but that can’t be said of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. He’s been with childhood sweetheart Jools since he was 18 – they’ve produced five children and are still going strong after nearly 18 years of marriage.
Jamie says their marriage has got even stronger during recent turbulent times in his business empire. Despite having written 2017’s best-selling cookery book, FiveEasyIngredients – one copy is sold every 16 seconds – Jamie has had trouble with his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain being forced to close 12 of 37 restaurants and work flat out to save the others.
Throughout it all, says Jamie, Jools has been a pillar of strength, despite having her hands full with their brood – Daisy, 16, Poppy, 15, Petal, nine, Buddy, eight and River, nearly two. Jools looks after them while Jamie works long hours, even evenings and weekends.
“Jools has been amazing, incredible,” says Jamie, 43, when we sit down for a chat at his north London offices. Casual but trendy in olive chinos and a smart baseball jacket, he’s chatty, friendly and funny. “Jools has helped a thousand per cent. I love her, of course, but my respect and admiration for her have gone up another gear. Until you’re tested you don’t know what each other’s mettle is and don’t know how it will respond if tested. Weirdly, we’re closer for it.”
In his precious few hours of downtime, Jamie likes hanging out at home with the kids, bouncing on the trampoline and playing games. “I play lots of fairy games with Petal,” he says. “I have to dress up sometimes, but you’ve got to just try and be a parent, really.”
Jamie and Jools don’t go out much, not least because shy Jools tends to shun the limelight. When Jamie’s at home, she prefers time with him and the children together – they have houses in north London and a weekend home in Jamie’s home town of Clavering in Essex. While their union seems golden, Jamie admits they don’t like the same TV shows.
“Jools likes TOWIE and the Kardashians because she says it’s mindless and doesn’t require any thinking,” says Jamie. “I like [Netflix horror series] StrangerThings, mostly because it’s set in the ’80s and reminds me of my childhood. I can’t wait for BakeOff to come back, too. I thought Prue Leith did a
“All this trouble has made me focus on what’s really important – family”
brilliant job,” says Jamie. “I respect and love both Prue and Mary Berry who have equal cuddle-ability status in my eyes.”
So with his family life in a good place, Jamie has been able to focus on shoring up his Jamie’s Italian chain, which has launched a new summer menu in a bid to lure more diners. “We opened our doors ten years ago, and that’s a long time in the restaurant world, so I’m very proud of that,” says Jamie. “But the high street restaurant business is really competitive. We also have higher costs, because we use higher welfare meat, always paid above minimum wage and gave 100% tips to staff.”
Jamie is hoping diners will be lured back to Jamie’s Italian by a new summer menu. “It’s amazing. I looked back over the last decade at the most popular dishes and brought some back – prawn linguine and carbonara – and our insanely delightful burger.”
Jamie also has his hands full filming a new TV series and cookbook launching this summer, plus his anti-obesity campaign currently targeting junk food ads aimed at kids. Although he’s as super-busy as ever, and the rough and tumble of the business world is an aggravation for Jamie, he’s definitely got his priorities sorted out.
“In an interesting way, all this trouble has only made me focus on what’s really important,” says Jamie with a smile. “And that’s obviously Jools and the family. It’s everything.”
◆ THE NEW SUMMER MENU IS AVAILABLE AT JAMIE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANTS NOW WWW.JAMIEOLIVER.COM/ ITALIAN