Jamie Oliver tells Kirsty Young if he had his time again he’d run a pub and have ‘just enough’ because his five children have had a ‘tricky’ time being raised in the public eye

• The Essex-born chef, 48, appeared on the BBC Radio 4 podcast Young Again 
• READ MORE: Linda Evangelista tells Kirsty Young she felt ‘guilty’ that she didn’t speak sooner about her ‘abusive’ ex-husband accused of rape because it could have helped other alleged victims 

Multimillionaire celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has said he would prefer a ‘normal’ life and run a pub if he could go back in time.

The cook, who has written 27 cookbooks and made dozens of TV series, is one of the most recognisable faces in the hospitality industry.

However, reflecting on his success in an interview with presenter Kirsty Young, he has revealed he would quite like to opt for a life of ‘anonymity’.

Speaking as the third guest on BBC Radio 4’s Young Again podcast, he suggested he would ‘go to the pub’ and have ‘a normal life’.

‘I would be aware that anonymity is our most valuable gift, that we will never give any currency to and to have just enough and to trot on and to be the best you can at your thing. And just like, be part of a community and have a mutuality and an equality,’ he said.

Jamie Oliver, 48, who has an estimated net worth of £200million and has written 27 cookbooks, has revealed he would choose a life of ‘anonymity’ given his time again

Oliver burst onto the scene in 1999 as The Naked Chef on the BBC, before moving to Channel 4 where he fronted the Jamie’s Kitchen documentary, following the establishment of the Fifteen restaurant.

Since then he has written the equivalent of one cookbook per year for his entire career and is now estimated to have a net worth of around £200million.

However, after being raised in a pub in north Essex owned by his parents, the celebrity chef reminisced fondly on his upbringing and arguing for the importance of the pub environment in British culture.

‘I was never bored, I was never lonely. I was dyslexic, I was hyperactive… but in a pub I bounced around,’ he recalled.

Oliver burst onto the scene in 1999 as the Naked Chef on the BBC (pictured) before continuing his TV career on Channel 4

Jamie Oliver appears on the third episode of Kirsty Young’s BBC Radio 4 podcast Young Again

Although he admitted he ‘always had a score in [his] pocket’ throughout his childhood, Oliver insisted that he didn’t receive pocket money from his parents, and that he worked in the pub to earn his money, washing pots and cleaning toilets.

Speaking about his own children, who range from five to 21 years old, he said the older kids in the brood had ‘seven or eight tricky years’ at school because they were being raised by a father who was under scrutiny as a public figure.

‘[They were] getting grief because of me,’ he said, arguing that ‘celebrity and children is not a good combination’.

He said: ‘It’s definitely not healthy for kids, full stop. But we’re committed now.’

When asked by Young if he would go back and choose a private life if he had his time again, Oliver replied: ‘Definitely.’

He added: ‘If I came back on Earth and did it again, I would go to the pub.’

Acknowledging that he is ‘grateful’ for the things he has had in his life, Oliver admitted it is ‘a big job to maintain 24/7 Jamie Oliver, Family Oliver.’

The celebrity chef went on to express his hopes for the future, based on the campaigns he has previously backed which aim to improve the overall health of the nation.

Elsewhere in the interview, Oliver addressed the ‘failures’ in his career, including the collapse of his restaurant chain, Jamie’s Italian, in May 2019.

A plunge in profits and an exodus of customers forced Oliver to pull the plug on the chain, which saw the closure of 22 sites and the loss of 1,000 jobs.

Speaking to Young, he said: ‘I’ve failed at lots of things but that was a particularly painful one.’

Oliver revealed his five children (pictured this year at his and wife Jools’s vow renewal) have had a ‘tricky’ time growing up in the public eye

Looking back on the issues within the business, he recalled opening the first Jamie’s Italian in Oxford when he was 28, at which time he had the determination to want to fight the recession which was gripping the UK economy at the time.

However, he admitted: ‘Our structure was wrong and I wasn’t clever enough to know it… but we had this golden seven or eight years.’ He added he never took a wage nor a dividend throughout the entirety of the business.

As he prepares to open a restaurant on Catherine Street in central London in the next few months, he said: ‘It’s my second chance and possibly my last chance.

‘And I’m not coming back cockily I promise you, I’m vulnerable. But I wake up shaking, I’m excited every day.’

He revealed that the site is owned by Sir Andrew Lloyd-Weber, who is now his ‘landlord’.

Describing the menu at the restaurant, he said it refers to his memories of being 12-18 years old.

‘It’s a homage to Mum and Dad, really,’ he said.

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