Celebrity chef Thomas Straker reveals his Rolex has been stolen during an outdoor exercise session: ‘Thieving is f***ing terrible’

Celebrity chef Thomas Straker has revealed his Rolex was stolen during an outdoor training session.

The chef, 33, who has 4.5 million followers on social media, was exercising when the thief spotted the expensive watch and pocketed it.

Watches from the Rolex Explorer collection typically sell for between €4,053 and €11,296 on the private sales market.

He wrote on social media: ‘The first nice thing I ever bought myself after 12 years of grinding in the kitchen. Stolen from me while I was training in the park.

“The Rolex Explorer one was sentimental and reminded me that hard work really does pay off.

‘Theft is f***ing horrible and I’m (angry face emoji).’

It comes after Thomas’ wife kicked him out of their marital home after being told he was romantically involved with Princess Maria Olympia of Greece.

Friends of Thomas and his wife Davina, who have two daughters aged four and two, said she was ‘devastated’ when she heard about his infidelity in October.

He was photographed with King Charles’ goddaughter, known as Olympia, outside her home earlier this month.

The pair were spotted together just days after Olympia’s aristocratic ex-boyfriend Peregrine Pearson was pictured kissing A-lister and Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner in Paris.

Thomas, who is known for posting 15- to 30-second videos of his culinary creations, particularly his butter recipes, married actress Davina Pownall in a church ceremony in Wiltshire in 2015.

A friend of the couple said: ‘This isn’t just a story about a beautiful budding romance for a heartbroken princess.

“There are actually three other people who are heartbroken. They are his wife and two daughters, who have not yet been named.’

Another friend of the couple said, “She discovered this relationship almost a month ago after being told about it by mutual friends who knew her and Olympia.

‘A lot of people knew what was going on and asked Tom to tell Davina, but he obviously didn’t, so they did.

‘I don’t think he denied it. He is a married man with two young children and Davina deserves better than this.

‘She asked him to leave the house in north London that they had recently bought together and were renovating. This all happened before Tom was photographed with the princess.

‘I know Davina is devastated. It’s clearly not what she wanted.

‘Throughout their marriage, she cared for their children and supported Tom as his career took priority over the past eight years.

‘With the hours he works, she hasn’t been able to do her own thing for a while, and that’s one of the reasons I’m so outraged by his behavior.’

Olympia, 27, the only daughter of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and his wife, Marie-Chantal Miller, split from Peregrine, son and heir of the 4th Viscount Cowdray, in September after three years together.

Friends of the princess say she believed the marriage was over before starting a relationship with Straker.

Peregrine, 29, whose family has a £224million fortune and who has been dubbed Britain’s most eligible bachelor, was passionately kissed by Sophie outside Gare du Nord station in Paris.

The couple left in separate cars but met again at the Stade de France, where Sophie unveiled the Web Ellis trophy before the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and South Africa.

Their public clash came less than two months after Sophie’s musician and actor husband Joe Jonas filed for divorce following reports that their four-year marriage was in trouble.

Straker grew up hunting, foraging and fishing around his parents’ small farm in Herefordshire before working at Dorchester, Elystan Street and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, opening his own restaurant Straker’s in Notting Hill in September last year.

He started making cooking videos in March 2020 when Covid hit, and now has a huge social media presence with 1.9 million followers on Instagram, 2.3 million on TikTok, 266,000 on YouTube and 76,000 on Facebook.

Straker made his name online by blending ingredients into butter to create quirky flavors that can elevate everything from a piece of toast to a dinner party, and he was credited with starting the #ButterTok trend.

This week he launched his own range of organic butter called All Things Butter, sold in flavors including garlic, herb and chilli

Straker became embroiled in controversy in July this year after posting two photos of his team of seven all-white male chefs outside his eponymous restaurant in West London.

Critics questioned why there were no women or ethnic minority kitchen staff in the line-up, and he was accused of perpetuating the idea that top restaurants were “a white boys’ club.”

Others claimed the line-up was ‘completely unrepresentative’ of multicultural Britain and ‘failed to take women into account’.

Some critics said the photos were particularly out of place as Straker’s restaurant is located in Notting Hill’s diverse Goldborne Road area.

As dozens of people continued to post negative comments, Straker responded with his own comment: “Honestly, people need to calm down.

‘Firstly, there is a shortage of chefs/catering staff. Secondly, if you feel so passionately, please go and collect the CVs of all the chefs you think we are missing from the team. Solutions, not problems.’

But his comment only fanned the flames, by fueling other complaints that he wasn’t doing enough to have a diverse workforce.

The protests led to Straker sharing an apology via his Instagram Story, where he appeared to backtrack and insist he is committed to “ensuring diversity” in his companies.

He wrote: ‘On Friday night I made a post from my chef team and many rightly pointed out the lack of diversity in it. I am very sorry for my initial response, which caused some to question whether I am taking this issue seriously.

‘I am absolutely committed to ensuring diversity in my restaurants, unfortunately we are not currently achieving this in my kitchens and this is an area I know I need to improve, to ensure it is seen as a welcoming and approachable environment for everyone. Tom x.’

Davina declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.