He is a celebrity chef, a global television star, and one of the best-selling authors of all time.
But Jamie Oliver, 49, says his path to a successful career was hindered by jealous rivals and even his “heroes”.
In a heartbreaking admission, the chef revealed that the food gurus he once admired “tried to destroy him.”
Jamie, who rose to fame at age 25 on his own reality show The Naked Chef, spoke about his past in a new interview on The daily telegraph.
‘YO“In the early days, in the first five years of my career, a lot of my heroes were fucking horrible to me,” he said.
“Honestly, they were very jealous of my success, and I was just a kid.”
He continued, “It was the only thing I struggled with for those first five years, because these people that I looked up to were just destroying me on a regular basis, and they couldn’t understand how I was selling more.” books than all of them together.’
The billionaire, married and father of five, said he attributes his success in part to “luck.”
Jamie Oliver has revealed that his path to a successful career as a multi-millionaire book author and celebrity chef was hindered by jealous rivals.
Elsewhere in the chat, Jamie revealed that he ‘always dreamed’ of living and working in Australia.
He said that while he was working in a restaurant fresh out of school, all his colleagues were already in Australia “living a life” of “drinking, fucking” and having the time “of their lives.”
“So I never really thought (that I would get there), it’s literally like a dream.”
Oliver, who is married to fashion designer Juliette Norton, first rose to fame on the cooking show The Naked Chef in 1999.
The 49-year-old, who rose to fame aged 25 on his own reality show The Naked Chef, opened up about his career struggles in a new interview in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. Pictured: Jamie in the early days of his success.
Since then, she has sold 50 million books and appeared on many other television shows, including Channel 10’s Jamie’s Kitchen Australia in 2006.
Currently in Australia, Jamie recently appeared as a judge on MasterChef 2024 Australia.
Next month she will be hosting a live talk about her new book Simply Jamie at the Sydney Coliseum called Jamie Oliver – The Joy of Cooking.
It comes as Jamie and wife Jools renewed their vows once again as they celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas in June.
The beloved foodie and his former wife Jools, 49, married in 2000 and renewed their vows for the first time in 2023 during a family trip to the Maldives.
And saying ‘I do’ once again, she took to Instagram to share an album of snaps from her impulsive day to celebrate their anniversary.
In a candid new interview, Jamie said his food heroes were “horrible” to him after becoming a TV chef and best-selling author. Pictured: Jamie, who has sold more than 50 million books, shows off the cover of his latest tome Simply Jamie.
Jamie and Jools also share five children; Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 12, and River, seven.
The couple tied the knot once again in an informal ceremony, in front of a tribute to Jools’ all-time favorite hitmaker, Elvis Presley.
Jools arrived at the chapel wearing jeans, a white blouse and cowboy boots, while Jamie opted for a more elegant outfit and wore a tailored suit.
Each of the couples shared a series of snaps on their social media accounts to document their memorable day.
Jools wrote: ‘Happy 24 crazy years of marriage together. I love you so much, thank you for indulging my LOVE for Elvis.
‘I know this marriage has ‘3 people… but you understand me like NO other!’
‘Just wait and see what I have planned for our 25th @jamieoliver’
While Jamie wrote: ‘Happy 24th wedding anniversary. 24 years!!! I love you, Las Vegas baby!! Great love, very funny, Jamie xxx.