JAMIE OLIVER is worried. “Things are bad,” he says, “really bad.”
“Health-wise, the UK is going to s***t. We have the unhealthiest people in Europe.”
It’s the same blond-haired, blue-eyed Jamie sitting in his trendy North London offices that we have known since he burst on to our screens as TV’s Naked Chef in 1999.
And it is fair to say that the cheeky Essex geezer still shines through — especially when his enthusiasm levels soar over wife Jools, his five children, aged nine to 23, and returning to education as an adult to study nutrition and gain a deeper understanding of it.
Amid the Nineties culture revival and the ongoing Oasis reunion tour, he even offers a great anecdote about Liam Gallagher throwing stones at the window of his North London house on his way home from the pub, with the rocker, who lived nearby at the time, shouting: “Make me a bacon sandwich.”
Jamie celebrated 25 years of marriage to his beloved Jools in June with a gushing Instagram post about how, “I couldn’t have achieved anything I’m proud of without you” — which has 500,000 likes and counting.
His recent Channel 4 documentary, Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution — in which he explores the challenges faced by thousands of schoolkids with the condition, which he was diagnosed with himself as an adult — also got great ratings.
‘I got stuff wrong’
So alongside a big health overhaul for his 50th birthday earlier this year, it’s definitely not all doom and gloom for the household chef once branded a “one-pot wonder” by pal Gordon Ramsay.
In the past, Jamie’s cheery enthusiasm and Essex slang could ruffle some viewers’ feathers.
But today, we’re seeing a slightly more demure, reflective side to him that is really rather serious, sensible — and possibly a little less positive than how he usually comes across.
We are here to talk about his new cookbook and TV series, Eat Yourself Healthy, but our conversation covers everything from dyslexia and fat jabs to him now being a self-styled “Mr Mainstream”.
We even touch on the wonders of Welsh cakes and how many pull-ups he can do (22 last year, although a lot less now, he confesses).
Jamie’s big birthday, which he celebrated in May, is weighing on him, which explains why he has brought out this healthy eating cookbook.
There was no “rock bottom” moment that led to him overhauling his lifestyle. Somewhat more bleakly, he admits: “I just felt old. There’s a lot of things that signal 50.
“General aches and pains, more regular visits to the doctor.
“Mortality is definitely a conversation you’re having with yourself.
“In your 30s, you’re riddled with weddings and joy. And in my 40s, certainly the later 40s, there was a couple of years when I’m like, ‘Jools, can people just f***ing stop dying’.”
Jamie’s new book is, in fact, dedicated to 67-year-old TV doctor Michael Mosley, who died in June last year after going missing while on holiday on the Greek island of Symi.
The pair met several times — and Jamie seems determined to continue his pal’s legacy of work when it comes to public health.
Like Mosley, he is determined to improve the nation’s health — in simple, understandable and achievable ways. “I’ve got lots of stuff right in my career and I got stuff wrong,” he adds.
You only eat s**t if you buy it, right? So I’m offering lots of shopping hacks and tips, sleeping, lifestyle, napping — big things that can change the way you feel.
Jamie Oliver
“I think that tapestry makes you able to call on different experiences. But when you turn 50, health becomes more important.
“I do believe in working hard. I think that’s healthy in some respects and very unhealthy in others.
“My relationship with sleep is still not healthy. I got three hours a night for way too many years.
“And I started at 4.30am this morning and will work until 9.30pm tonight.
“I only do that three days a week now, but I’ve got to fix that. And I’m intending to fix that.
We’ve never had a government that’s put child health first.
Jamie Oliver
“On the more positive side, it’s just wanting to be the best version of me, like I want to be optimal for my kids, and having grandkids.
“I go to the gym twice a week, though I’m s**t. I’ve got an amazing trainer who I’ve had for ten years, but I’m probably his most disappointing client.
“But in the lead-up to turning 50 last year I went from three chin-ups to about 22 — although I haven’t done that for six months.
“Another positive is that you’ve got wisdom on your side, and that hopefully will make us good parents.
“But it’s also taking so much pleasure in talent and young people and seeing yourself in them and trying to be a positive force.
“That’s definitely a warm and cuddly side of being a bit wiser.”
It’s fair to say that after every turn the conversation takes — and Jamie can certainly leap from subject to subject — we inevitably come back to the nation’s children.
Crucially, how we are slowly but surely “screwing their futures” and, in turn, the country, with our terrible diets.
He says: “We’ve got the most unhealthy people in Europe.
“If you look at where our money comes in and imports, exports, there’s lots to be proud of.
“But we have to be really careful in the next 20 years because the dream will start crumbling.”
He adds of the nation’s health: “It’s very fixable, but you just have to put child health first. It’s only ten years before those children then become young adults and parents, and we can reap the reward of it.
“But we’ve never had a government that’s put child health first.”
In the 26 years he has been on TV screens, Jamie has fronted 50 hit series, released more best-selling cookbooks than you can shake a wooden spoon at, transformed our school dinners and opened restaurants worldwide.
‘Stop junk food ads’
He even filmed Emmy award-winning Jamie’s Food Revolution in America’s unhealthiest city — Huntington, West Virginia.
In 2010, he had to convince the local bariatric surgeon there to give away free cooking lessons so his clinically obese patients could lose enough weight to have their stomachs stapled safely.
Fast forward 15 years and fat jabs are all the rage instead of gastric bands.
On these, he is surprisingly in favour — IF they are prescribed by the NHS under medical supervision.
But he argues: “What we really need to do is fix the reasons behind our high obesity rates, and that starts with a holistic look at what can be done to make us all healthier.
“We need proper food education, nourishing school meals and to stop the bombardment of junk food ads, and making healthy ingredients affordable for everyone.
“Knowing how to shop, budget and cook are the superpowers that will enable all of us to lead healthy and happier lives.”
Which leads us neatly on to his new book — all 321 glossy pages of it — which is overflowing with mouthwatering recipes and ideas on how to overhaul your lifestyle.
One of the most astonishing take-homes is that the current “five a day” advice is a myth.
“The Government gave us the five-a-day one-liner, which is a lie,” he claims.
“Because it’s not based on any science.
“It’s a lie decided by someone in government because they have a low opinion of Britain, because we have a long history of only having two to three portions of veg a day.
“We don’t see exciting positive upsides until you get to seven to 11 portions of veg a day.”
Thank God for his book then, because every parent knows the struggle to get kids eating even one veggie portion is very real.
Jamie adds: “A good generalisation as opposed to five a day is ‘eat the rainbow’.
“You only eat s**t if you buy it, right? So I’m offering lots of shopping hacks and tips, sleeping, lifestyle, napping — big things that can change the way you feel.
“What does ‘really good’ look like? We’re not saying in the book you have to get it right all of the time — we’re just saying this is what good looks like.”
Another helpful hack in the book is portion size — there are pictures of palms outspread showing what measurements really look like.
Clue: they’re much smaller than you would think. And reassuringly for every skint, desperate parent, frozen veg and fruit is often more nutritious than fresh.
Jamie says: “Whether your strategy for kids or husband or partner is to hide veg — it’s not a great strategy, but it does work — then grate it, slice it, mush it, do whatever you need to do.”
To start off what will hopefully be a new health journey, there is a two-week kickstarter plan in the book — advice he has never included for fans before.
He says: “It’s like, ‘How are you — you’re feeling s***t? Do this for two weeks and I’m pretty sure you will feel very different. I’m quite confident of that.”
- Eat Yourself Healthy, by Jamie Oliver, is published by Penguin Michael Joseph and is out on September 11. Channel 4’s Eat Yourself Healthy started on August 25 and airs every Monday at 8pm.