Jools Oliver, wife of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, has revealed that being diagnosed with autism and ADHD late in life left her feeling "drained" and that going undiagnosed "ruined 45 years" of her life.
The 51-year-old parenting blogger, mother to Poppy, Daisy, Petal, Buddy and River, shared her experience on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast. She said she had lived with both neurodivergences while mistaking them for "something else".
Diagnosis prompted by her children
Jools explained that one of her children was diagnosed with autism four years ago, which prompted her to seek testing for herself. "I've got the medication but I don't want to take it because I'm scared - due to health anxiety - that something will happen," she said. "It's an ongoing situation. But, I found out the children had autism. So, then I thought 'my God, that sounds like me'. So I went for that and I've got that as well."
The blogger added that it was "great to know" what was happening in her brain but also "overwhelming", admitting that not knowing earlier had "ruined" a large part of her life. "For me, I think it's quite draining. I think it's tiring. And I think it's actually ruined, well I'm 51, so far 45 years of my life thinking it's something else. It's no superpower, it's just drain and it's really hard work."
Late diagnosis common in women
According to the National Autistic Society, many women are diagnosed with autism late in life. This is because autism in girls can often present differently from the stereotypical idea of what autism looks like, as girls are more likely to "mask" their autistic traits. As a result, many are not diagnosed until adulthood.
Last month, Jamie Oliver also spoke about his home life with Jools. The chef admitted he "would be much stricter" with their five children but has to hold back because "Jools is much nicer".
Family mealtimes
After discussing how his children make many requests for different meals at dinner, he told The i Paper: "I do have that and I don't like it. I would be much stricter, but Jools is much nicer than me. I'm like: 'I don't really care if you're hungry. If you're hungry, you'll eat, and we'll all eat the same thing.'"
He did agree to make separate meals for two of his daughters who are gluten intolerant. "It's lovely to cook one thing and everyone tucks into it, but I've got two gluten-intolerant girls, so it's a pain if you want to do one pasta dish for everyone," he said. "And we're a busy family, and not everyone comes home at the same time, because they finish school at different times, they've got after-school clubs or sports, so it's about having dishes you can stagger - something that can hang around and keep warm to serve later is good. I'll do the same thing in different pans and add chilli to one, so they can choose whether or not to have it."
