Jamie Oliver's 'damaging' children's book is pulled - his biggest controversies revealed

Celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, has found himself in hot water a number of times in recent years.

The father-of-five, 49, is one of the most well-known faces on TV with a host of cooking shows and recipe books under his belt. However, the Jamie Cooks star was left red-faced recently when he was forced to apologise after withdrawing his new book, which was slammed as 'irresponsible and damaging' by an education body for Indigenous Australians.

Then, there was that air fryer show on Channel 4 in which the multi-millionaire 'mockney' was accused of being: “nowhere near reality” and “bewilderingly cringe” as he rustled up a Baked Alaska in a show he created in partnership with Tefal.

So...as the dust settles on the chef's latest gaffe - in which Jamie said he was "devastated to have caused offence" - here's a look back at his biggest controversies...

'Damaging' children's book

Jamie has been forced to apologise and has withdrawn his new book after it was slammed as "irresponsible and damaging" by an education body for Indigenous Australians.

The TV chef has turned his hand to writing for kids, saying he came up with the idea while telling his children bedtime stories. But his sequel has caused offence, with The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (Natsiec) urging Jamie and his publisher Penguin Random House to recall the title.

Published earlier this year, Billy and the Epic Escape comes after his debut Billy and the Giant Adventure, featuring drawings by Spanish illustrator Mónica Armiño. A subplot in the book sees a First Nations girl who is fostered by an Indigenous community, but its kidnapped by a villain.

In the story, the villain says that "First Nations children seem to be more connected with nature". The Indigenous girl in the book also tells the English characters that she's able to communicate with plants and animals, as well as read people's minds.

She describes it as the "Indigenous way". There is also debate about the vocabulary used - the girl is believed to be from Alice Springs, but uses language from New South Wales and Queensland. Taking "decisive" action, Jamie and Penguin have pulled the book. In a statement, he said: "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." 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."

'Out of touch' claims

Jamie's passionate desire to get involved with causes he feels strongly about has had a polarising effect on his fans. In 2004, he began a mission to revamp school lunches at Kidbrooke School in Greenwich, attempting to do away with junk food – including his ultimate nemesis, the Turkey Twizzler, a curly strip of heavily processed meat in a crispy coating – from the menu.

However, despite a strong start, the chef soon realised just how difficult it was to pull together a nutritious meal on a budget of just 37p per child. He also criticised parents for sending their children to school laden with sugary snacks.

Jamie's School Dinners wasn’t to everyone’s taste. Some accused the star of being overbearing and patronising while others took issue with the fact that a very wealthy celebrity was criticising significantly less wealthy people for the way they eat, with an apparent limited empathy for their circumstances.

Air Fryer backlash

Jamie Oliver failed to impress viewers with his Channel 4 series about cooking with air fryers. The first episode of the programme, Jamie's Air Fryer meals, was mocked on X, formerly Twitter, as one viewer said: "The Jamie Oliver air fryer programme is nowhere near reality. It's basically a 30 min advert for Tefal.." Another fumed: "The bloke would sell his soul for a few quid."

Meanwhile, Benji Wilson at the Telegraph questioned whether the show's product placement with Tefal was problematic. Jamie created the programme in partnership with Tefal following the device's boom in popularity in recent years.

He wrote of the show, which saw Jamie knock up a Baked Alaska: "Basically then, Jamie's Air Fryer Meals with Tefal is itself an advert. It could be called Tefal's Air Fryer Meals with Jamie. The question is whether this is a problem or not."

Unhealthy eating claims

Jamie was slammed for promoting healthy eating while selling pasta sauces with high salt content. In 2009, Consensus Action on Salt and Health found that a full jar of his olive and garlic sauce was roughly equivalent to eating more than 10 packets of ready salted crisps.

However, Jamie's spokesperson said at the time that the sauces were "designed to be eaten in the Italian way" with one jar feeding four to six people. It was later claimed the chef's team have been working on a lower salt recipe with the newly-launched Spicy Olive sauce promising to contain just 0.8g of salt per 100g.

Gordon Ramsay spat

Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have been locked in 'feud' for around 15 years- exchanging swipes at each other in the press.

Scottish chef Gordon once launched a verbal attack on Jamie, calling him a 'fat f**k' among other insults on a TV talk show.

The war of words began in 2009 when Jamie called out Gordon for comparing a female journalist to a pig.

The chefs' feud began in 2009 when Jamie, 49, criticised Ramsay for comparing Australian journalist Tracey Grimshaw to a pig.

As reported by The Mirror, he told The Sun: 'Aussies aren't forgiving. Once you're gone, you're gone... It's never good to criticise a woman, especially when they're loved by their country and you do it on national television.' Gordon apologised but branded Naked Chef Jamie a 'one pot wonder'.

He went on to criticise Jamie's cooking skills. "t's a very different style to me. He sticks it in the oven, comes back three hours later and it's done. We cook differently. I use basic ingredients taken up with a lot more excitement. But competition is healthy. It's good to have that kind of rivalry."

He was also asked when he had last complained about a meal and answered: 'Last time I had dinner at Jamie Oliver's restaurant.'

In an interview with the Mirror, Jamie slammed Gordon as 'deeply jealous'. He said: "Gordon will do anything to try and take the p**s out of me because he is deeply jealous and can't quite work out why I do what I do and why he can't do that. He is too busy shouting and screaming and making our industry look like a bunch of shouters and screamers.

"Book sales are about having a deep trusted relationship with the public. I really write my books. I don't just turn up for the front cover. I write every word, every letter and I oversee every bit of design. You can sell a few books by luck or a moment... but not 15 years and 37million books. That's not luck," he insisted of his own popularity.

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