Jamie and Jools Oliver have gone on to welcome five children after almost 25 years of marriage. But it has been far from plain sailing for the couple, who have both admitted to ‘bickering’ and ‘jealousy’

Jamie Oliver’s loyal wife Jools has been by his side every step of the way, but they once hit a rough patch which left the TV chef questioning their fate.

The 48-year-old has become somewhat of a national treasure after sharing his delicious recipes with viewers and readers alike for the past 25 years. He shot to stardom in his early twenties with his BBC series The Naked Chef and years after his telly debut, he made it his mission to get schoolchildren eating healthier, with the launch of his controversial Feed Me Better campaign.

Away from the cameras, his own children are a priority, as he and Jools share a brood of five, each with unusual names. They have Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, and River Rocket Blue Dallas.

The family-of-seven moved into a £6m 16th-century mansion in Essex in 2019, which boasts a 70-acre estate with a pool, tennis court, and its own allotment. The devoted dad has been brutally honest about family life, including his long-lasting marriage to Juliette Norton, known as Jools, where he has laid bare the ups and downs which left them in a ‘rut’.

The couple tied the knot in 2000 after first meeting as teenagers when they were just 17 and 18. But with a life in the spotlight, it is unsurprising they have battled some issues with jealousy.

                                                       
Jamie and Jools got married in June, 2000                                          The couple have one of the strongest marriages in showbiz

Despite Jools moving away to live in Tokyo for three months, he was undeterred by the long distance and sent her romantic love letters in a bid to win over his future wife. ”When I was 17 I worked in Tokyo for three months and every single day Jamie sent me a letter or a fax without fail!” Jools shared to her Instagram account.

When she returned they became inseparable, renting a tiny flat in Hammersmith while Jamie worked in the kitchen at the famous River Cafe. But two decades of marriage and five children later, there have been a few lessons learned along the way. In 2021, Jamie revealed to the Australian Women’s Weekly: ”I think you learn to love in lots of different ways.

”You learn to love the person you married but also, it’s exciting because the rollercoaster of growing, becoming parents, getting older, having grey hairs and wrinkles, you can love all those bits. You don’t just love one bit. I feel very lucky. I started dating Jools when I was 18. She’s been a really solid and utterly important part of my life and my job’s quite exciting.

“[My job] expects quite a lot, and she’s my rock. She allows me to do my thing but then comes home and lets me be me… And I think she still quite likes me, which is really nice.” But their journey hasn’t been smooth sailing, with jealousy and speculation about cheating rearing its ugly head more than once.

The couple met when they were just teenagers ( 
Image:
joolsoliver/Instagram)
With stay-at-home mum Jools taking on the bulk of the parenting and spending weeks on end away from her busy husband, Jamie’s extreme work schedule began to cause friction. He had vowed to quit public life within three years back in 2005, but by 2011 he was still just a ‘weekend dad’ and the infamous workaholic admitted their marriage was in a ‘rut’.

Jamie said in 2011: “I’m not a worrier but she is a worrier. I don’t need that and she doesn’t need that, so we’re in a bit of a rut.” Jools also opened up about tension, admitting: “We bicker all the time. A lot of my friends can’t believe how much. He drives me mad because he never listens to me and I drive him mad because I can be horribly selfish.”

In the same year, Jools admitted that she snooped on him to check he wasn’t having an affair. She explained in The Telegraph: “I’ll check his email. I’ll check his Twitter. I’ll check his phone. Everything seems fine. He says I’m a jealous girl, but I think I’m fairly laidback, considering”.

What she was referring to was his early days in showbiz, when Jamie had admitted to girls throwing themselves at him. He previously said: “It wasn’t just young girls, it was medium and young girls and it was classic slightly rock star-esque: random knickers and bras getting thrown at you,” he told the Telegraph.

The couple now have a big and happy family ( 
Image:
GC Images)