The Insider Jamie Oliver on his new series; Sheridan Smith is back in a major TV drama
This week sees a new season of the popular food show featuring lifelong mates, Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty. The celebrities lined up for series six include Stephen Fry, Danny De Vito, Olympic gold-winner Jessica Ennis and the opening guest, Jodie Whittaker, aka Doctor Who. Jamie Oliver tells Insider what’s in store.
Describe the new run of Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast…
It’s the sixth series and feels like it’s getting better and better as time goes on. People are getting creative in how they consume TV content in all sorts of weird, wonderful and dynamic ways, but I think actually many of them want regular, trusted programmes at certain times of the week. And on Friday evenings, our show just fits. It’s a nice balance of cooking, celebrities and campaigning. It’s great to have that soapbox slot, rather than an hour-long documentary. The show has achieved amazing things because of a light-hearted little Friday night rant. And we genuinely work hard to make the audience happy.
There are some big guests this time, including Danny DeVito. How was he?
Hilarious. He’s a Hollywood legend and he came especially to see us at the end of Southend Pier, two hours out of London, for a six-hour filming. That isn’t normal. People come because they like what we do and they love food. Danny calls everyone baby – ‘Hey baby, thanks baby.’
How’s your old mate, Jimmy Doherty?
I’m so lucky to work with Jimmy. 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. Jimmy’s always got a few shows on the go and he does more filming than anyone I know, so technically he’s on fire but still loads of fun and beautifully daft. He’s a farmer, a butcher and nobody on the planet travels to as many farms and food businesses around the world as he does.
Is he going to be your best man? Because you’re getting married again…
Yeah! Me and Jools are going to renew our vows to celebrate our 20th 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.