Jamie Oliver has revealed how cooking ‘saved’ his life amid his struggle with dyslexia and has reflected on renewing his vows with his wife Jools.
The celebrity chef, 47, spoke candidly about why he decided to pursue cooking as a career, admitting that without it he would have been ‘utterly miserable’.
He explained that he found schoolwork “really hard” because of his dyslexia, a learning disability that affects reading and spelling skills.
Jamie shared how cooking was a lifeline for him The sun: ‘Cooking really saved my life, without cooking I would have been terribly miserable.’
Jamie also said that he didn’t read a novel until he was 35 years old, when he picked up Suzanne Collins’ book Catching Fire from the Hunger Games trilogy.
Candid: Jamie Oliver has revealed how cooking ‘saved’ his life amid his struggle with dyslexia at school
Loved up: In the extended chat, Jamie also talked about recently renewing his vows with his wife, 48 – 23 years after they originally tied the knot
Jamie went on to explain how he would put his kids – Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 12, and River, six – to bed so he could read to them or make up bedtime stories.
He said this led him to write his first children’s book Billy And The Giant Adventure, something he thought he would never achieve due to his dyslexia.
Elsewhere in the extended chat, Jamie also spoke about recently renewing his vows with wife Jools, 48 – 23 years after they originally tied the knot.
Earlier this month, Jamie shared an intimate carousel of family snaps on Instagram after saying ‘yes’ for the second time at the Soneva Fushi Resort in the Maldives.
Speaking of the ceremony, Jamie said they planned to renew their vows on their 20th wedding anniversary, before postponing it due to the Covid pandemic.
He said, “I have five kids, and the two oldest are out of the nest, in college and looking for jobs, and I thought it would be great to get away as it would probably be one of the last holidays are like a family, for boyfriends and other things that happen in parents’ lives.
“So we went to renew our vows, and it was actually really fun — and I think I enjoyed it the most of everyone.”
At the stunning ceremony, Jamie was seen sporting a trim figure in a blue blazer and matching trousers as he expressed his love for wife Jools in front of their five children.
‘Cooking really saved my life’: The celebrity chef, 47, spoke candidly about why he decided to pursue cooking as a career, admitting that he would have been ‘completely miserable’ without it
Jools looked elegant in an off-the-shoulder wedding dress complete with a ruffled design and a thigh-high slit as they posed for snaps on the beach.
Alongside the photos, Jamie wrote, “Morning y’all, me and @joolsoliver got married again! Yes, after 23 years together we thought it would be a special moment to celebrate the renewal of our wedding vows before the kids all leave the nest.
“It was very special, funny and romantic, with the words in the ceremony making more sense now that we had come this far together.
“It seems like a blink of an eye since the first wedding we kept very private, apart from the paparazzi in the village church, we thought it would be a happy and joyful moment to share with you all this Easter.
‘We always dreamed of going to the Maldives and it was exactly as you would have dreamed, just amazing! huge thank you to all the team at @discoversoneva for amazing and making this moment so special and memorable big love guys Jamie x’
Jamie later shared more snaps from the ceremony on his Instagram Stories, including a selfie with his wife and daughters captioned, “My queens.”
Vow renewal: Earlier this month, Jamie shared an intimate carousel of family snaps on Instagram, after saying ‘yes’ for the second time at the Soneva Fushi Resort in the Maldives
He also posted a photo with his two sons, Buddy and River, revealing that his oldest son had acted as a best man.
Jools and Jamie first started dating when they were teenagers and tied the knot on June 24, 2000 in the chef’s hometown of Rickling, Essex.
Jools spoke about renewing their vows in 2019, saying: ‘Next year we’ll have been married for 20 years and we’re getting married again, but doing things differently – outdoors and barefoot.
Looking back at their first ride down the aisle, she recalled, “Our first dance was to Dusty Springfield’s I Only Want To Be With You, but Jamie doesn’t like to dance, so I threw him off.” I was in my element!’