Jamie Oliver has revealed that BBC executives did not want him to have a girlfriend during the first series of his hit cookery show The Naked Chef, explaining why his wife Jools was absent from the programme.
The chef, who rose to fame on the BBC show in 1999, was filmed in the flat he shared with Jools in London. However, she was conspicuously missing from the opening series.
BBC Executives' Rule
Speaking on The Splendid Table podcast earlier this year, Jamie explained that "the middle-aged BBC executives didn't want me to have a girlfriend." He recalled: "They were just following my life and instead of filming in a studio, they filmed in the flat that I rented, and I actually lived there."
He added: "And for the first season, the kind of middle-aged BBC executives didn't want me to have a girlfriend. Jools didn't exist in the first series, so, obviously, you know, that was interesting."
Creative Freedom After Success
Jamie said that after The Naked Chef became hugely popular, he was granted more creative freedom. "But then, as The Naked Chef went out and it was huge, a little bit more permission came my way and I was slightly less naive."
He described how Jools would hide during filming: "And the whole series, like, Jools was in my bedroom downstairs kind of waiting for production to finish and get out of the house so we could just have a house again!"
Jamie's Memories of the Show
Despite the challenge of concealing their relationship, Jamie described his time on the BBC programme as "amazing." He added: "It was amazing, and I was grateful, and I was excited to be living in London as a country boy. I was excited to be in love and be with my Mrs."
Jamie and Jools, who married in 2000, share five children: Petal Blossom, Poppy Honey, Daisy Boo, Buddy Bear, and River Rocket.
Jools' Recent Diagnosis
Jools recently revealed she had been diagnosed with both autism and ADHD, saying that failing to understand her neurodivergence has "ruined" her life for the past 45 years.
She opened up on the podcast Lessons From Our Mothers: "It's no superpower. It's just a drain and it's just really hard work." She chose to pursue autism testing after her ADHD diagnosis, recognising shared behavioural traits with some of her and Jamie's children.
Jools shared her diagnosis with friends and family via an invitation to her 50th birthday party last year, saying: "My 50th birthday invite, I decided to come out." She told Jamie: "Jamie, I'm going to tell everyone that I'm not normal because I put on such a great act of being really like, 'Woo,' and so social. In fact, it's like my worst nightmare. I'm such an introvert."
She added that "a lot of people didn't come and were turned off" by her revelation, but she concluded: "This is me. I'm afraid this is the new 50. This is it."
Jamie's 20 Minute Meals airs on Monday 2nd November from 8pm on Channel 4.
