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Jamie Oliver: Nine things we learned when he spoke to Joe Wicks

Jamie Oliver is one of the most famous TV chefs in the world. With 24 books to his name, and almost as many TV shows, he’s been teaching the country to cook since he was barely in his twenties. This week on The Joe Wicks Podcast, Jamie tells Joe about accidental fame, his darkest times and sharing a personal trainer with David Haye.

Here are some of the things we learned...

Listen to the full interview here

1. Jamie's TV career started when someone called in sick

Jamie in 1999, working on the first season of BBC Two's The Naked Chef

He may be a household name now, but Jamie might never have become famous if one of his colleagues at The River Café hadn’t been taken ill. Jamie was employed at the famous restaurant when it was being filmed for a BBC show called Christmas At The River Café, in 1997, but he wasn’t supposed to be working that day. “Someone called in sick. It was the first night me and Jools [his wife] had off in months. But the restaurant said, ‘Look, it’s Saturday night and we’re one man down. Can you come and run this section?’” Jools tried to persuade him not to, but Jamie knew that he couldn’t let his team down. “So I went and that was the night the camera crew were there. If I had not gone, I wouldn’t be sitting here and nothing I’ve done would have been achieved.”

2. He didn’t make a penny from his restaurant chain

In 2019, Jamie’s restaurant empire, which included Jamie’s Italian, Fifteen and Barbecoa, went into istration, closing 22 outlets. Jamie calls the experience, “probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through. I think I did a good job of making sure my staff were all paid up until the day the business died.” Despite the restaurants operating for 13 years, Jamie says he never made any money from them. “I never got paid a penny running that business. I never took a wage or a dividend.”

3. He’s still trying to make school dinners better

One of the biggest moments in Jamie’s career was in 2005, when he made Jamie’s School Dinners and spearheaded a campaign to make school meals much healthier. Jamie says the project is still a major part of his life. “What a lot of people don’t realise is since that campaign 15 years ago, I’ve had a team on it ever since,” he says. One of the projects his team has been working on is getting kids meals in school holidays. “There are 1.3 million children in the country that have free school meals. They’re from families that earn less than £7,000 per year… So the question was, what happens in the holidays">by the footballer Marcus Rashford. “We failed on that campaign. For the last five years, nobody was interested. Marcus smashed it.”

4. He’s not a planner

You just gotta listen… What's inspiring people? What's worrying people? Then you sort of mash them up and I do a food version of trying to answer those questions.
Jamie Oliver

You might think that someone who’s achieved as much as Jamie would be a big planner, who knows what he’s doing months in advance. However, Jamie says he is not one to think very far ahead. “I think people think that I'm super organised,” he says. “I'm really not.” Instead he says he works out what his next project should be by paying attention to what people are talking about. “You just gotta listen. Listen really hard… What's upsetting people? What's inspiring people? What's worrying people? Then you sort of mash them up and I do a food version of trying to answer those questions.”

5. It costs £1,800 to test each of his recipes

It would take a long time to count all the recipes Jamie has published. He says that every single one of those goes through such a rigorous test process that they are very expensive to produce. “Every recipe I write is tested four times in the business and often twice outside the business,” he says. “If you were to cost the testing, each recipe is about £1,800. So there’s £180,000 worth of testing in every book.”

6. He’s started writing music for his TV shows

In his younger days, Jamie was a drummer with the band Scarlet Division. He says he’s returned to his former love during lockdown. “I missed that and I lost that. During lockdown, I was just getting back into drumming again. Not just physically smashing the hell out of something, but trying to get better.” He’s also turned his hand to songwriting. “I started writing again, which is beautiful. The music that’s on the series on TV right now [Jamie: Keep Cooking Family Favourites] and the one during lockdown [Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On], I wrote all that.”

7. Drumming is a surprisingly good workout

Jamie says that drumming isn’t just good for keeping his mind active, it also helps him stay fit. “You would probably be quite amazed at what a workout it is,” he says. “It’s very physical. You’ve got your legs moving up and down, your hands going up and down, and lots on your core… Professional drummers, you’ll see not moving as much. They’re saving energy. For me it was always like being Animal in The Muppets.”

Jamie Oliver: "We go from hugs and kisses one moment to utter carnage the next."

Jamie talks about his marriage to Jools. A clip from The Joe Wicks Podcast.

8. He had the same trainer as boxer David Haye

In a bid to get fit, Jamie decided to hire a personal trainer. Not just any personal trainer, but Jamie Sawyer, the man who kept former champion heavyweight boxer David Haye in shape. “He is super talented,” says Jamie. “I think my relationship with him was probably more important than I gave it credit for. You don’t just train, you talk about other stuff. He trained me through some of my darkest moments.”

9. Kid number six could be on the way

Jamie and his wife Jools have been married for 20 years and have five children. He says Jools would like to make that six. “She wants another one,” he says. “[Being a mother is] all she's ever dreamt of. That's the thing that makes her truly happy. You can see that she just loves being a mother and for that I'm grateful.”

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