Inside Jamie Oliver and Jools' rocky marriage from jealousies to selfish confession

On the surface, Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools appear to have a truly idyllic marriage - but they've had to put in plenty of work to keep their fairytale alive.

Celeb chef Jamie is currently navigating controversy over his now-pulled children's book, Billy and the Epic Escape, which was described as 'irresponsible and damaging' by The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (Natsiec), an education body for Indigenous Australians.

Jamie, 49, has since apologised 'wholeheartedly', expressing that he has 'devastated to have caused offence'. This marks a difficult moment in the Feed Me Better campaigner's rollercoaster career, which has seen him author cookbooks, launch a restaurant chain, and front countless TV shows.

All the while, Jamie has tried to balance his workload with his home life as a proud family man, with mixed successes. The father-of-five first met Juliette Norton - best known as Jools - long before becoming a household name on the iconic cooking show, The Naked Chef. They've stuck by each other through thick and thin, with Jamie's fame naturally bringing about additional challenges for the pair - not to mention a fair bit of jealousy along the way.

Jamie has also spoken candidly about how his high-powered career has previously taken a toll on his marriage and family, prompting him to make a significant change. Here, the Mirror takes a look at Jamie and Jools' foodie love story so far...

The pair first met as teens and were thrown a curveball early on after Jools moved away to live in Tokyo for three months. Undeterred by the long distance, the then 18-year-old Jamie sent plenty of 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 via 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. The couple tied the knot in 2000 and went on to welcome a sizeable brood of uniquely named children - Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, and River Rocket Blue Dallas.

As of 2019, the family of seven now live in £6million 16th-century Essex mansion, complete with a 70-acre estate pool, tennis court, and at-home allotment for growing plenty of healthy veggies. It's a far cry from their first home together as a couple in love and a testament to Jamie's tireless work ethic.

But after two decades of marriage and five children later, it is no surprise that 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.

"It 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.

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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.

And in 2018, Jamie confirmed that his wife suspected he had in fact cheated on her. He told Closer magazine: "My missus accused me of having an affair once, because I kept disappearing and coming back with green on my knees. It was courgette season and I was in the vegetable patch!"

Meanwhile, Jools has previously opened up about the heartbreak of suffering five miscarriages. Two happened before she gave birth to her son River, four, in 2016, and another three came afterwards. Marking Baby Loss Awareness Week in 2020, she paid tribute to, "our own 5 little stars we never got to hold in our arms xxx"

But Jamie and Jools faced the hard times together and renewed their vows earlier this year, in a very different ceremony to when they first got hitched. Ahead of the special day, Jools told Red Magazine: "We're going to get married again, but do things differently – outside and barefoot. Our wedding was formal, but we're so not like that. It'll be a big party. Why the hell not? I think we’ve done well!"

When the time came in April, after 23 years together, Jamie revealed to fans that it took place on the beach in the Maldives. Announcing the happy news, Jamie wrote: ''Yep, after 23 years together, we thought it would be a special moment to celebrate renewing our wedding vows before the kids all start leaving the nest.

''It was really special, funny and romantic with the words in the ceremony making more sense having come this far together. It seems like a blink since the first wedding which we kept very private apart from the paparazzi at the village church we thought it would be a happy and joyful moment to share with you all this Easter. 'We've always dreamed of going to the Maldives and it was just as you would have dreamed, simply amazing.''

This comes as Jamie releases the following statement on his now-pulled book: "I am devastated to have caused offence and apologise wholeheartedly. It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Penguin Random House said: "It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action."

Published earlier this year as the sequel to Jamie's Billy and the Giant Adventure, Billy and the Epic Escape includes a subplot which sees a First Nations girl who is fostered by an Indigenous community, kidnapped by a villain.

In the story, which features artwork by Spanish illustrator Mónica Armiño, the villain states that 'First Nations children seem to be more connected with nature'. The Indigenous girl also tells the English characters that she's able to communicate with plants and animals, and read people's minds, describing her abilities as the 'Indigenous way'.

In a statement given to The Guardian, Natsiec's chief executive, Sharon Davis, said that the book ignored 'the violent oppression of First Nations people, raising serious concerns about the cultural safety of First Nations readers – especially young people', while perpetuating harmful stereotypes.

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