Jamie Oliver, the chef who rose to fame for exposing the nation’s unhealthy eating habits, has revealed that he has been struggling with a health battle of his own.
The 50-year-old TV star admitted he has endured a “really dangerous” relationship with sleep, saying he has spent the past decade surviving on just three or four hours a night. “I am at the end of a decade of only three or four hours of sleep a night and it’s really dangerous,” Jamie told The Times. “I will fix it this year, but three times a week I wake up at 4.30am and don’t finish until 9pm. It’s too much.”
Beyond the sleep deprivation, Jamie also suffers from a slipped disc in his back and acknowledges what he calls the “old-people stuff” that comes with age. Despite being the man who once led a campaign to improve school meals across the UK, Jamie admitted that his biggest personal health flaw has been “being greedy.” He confessed that, while his diet has always been varied, overeating has been his “biggest problem.”
Now viewing his body “as an engine” rather than something that simply works unconditionally, Jamie has begun to reflect on lifestyle changes, including writing a new healthy cookbook.
The chef also gave rare insight into his family life with wife Juliette and their five children – Poppy, Daisy, Petal, Buddy, and River. Jamie admitted he “never thought” he would be a father of five, but said being a dad is both “an amazing privilege” and “chaotic and exhausting.” He added: “Typically, I’m very patient, but I do have a temper, and it’s probably not a pretty sight.”
