Jamie Oliver slams his heroes who were ‘so f**king horrible’ to him as he details his long and difficult journey to success

He is a celebrity chef, a global TV star and one of the world’s biggest best-selling authors of all time.

But Jamie Oliver, 49, says his road to a successful career was made bumpy by jealous rivals and even his ‘heroes’.

In a heartbreaking confession, the chef revealed that the food gurus he once looked up to were ‘trying to destroy’ him.

Jamie, who shot to fame at the age of 25 on his own reality show The Naked Chef, opened up about his past in a new interview in The Daily Telegraph.

‘IIn the early days, in the first five years of my career, a lot of my heroes were so freaking awful to me,” he said.

“Honestly, they were so jealous of my success, and I was just a young boy.”

He continued, “It was the one thing I struggled with for the first five years because these people I looked up to were destroying me on a regular basis, and they couldn’t figure out how I was selling more. books all together.’

The married father of five and multi-millionaire says he owes his success partly to ‘luck’.

Elsewhere in the chat, Jamie revealed he has ‘always dreamed’ of living and working Down Under.

He said that while he was working in a restaurant straight after school, all his friends were already in Australia, where they were ‘living a life’ of ‘drinking, fucking’ and having the best time ‘ever’.

“So I honestly never thought (I would get there) – it’s literally a dream.”

Oliver, married to fashion designer Juliette Norton, first rose to fame on cooking show The Naked Chef in 1999.

The 49-year-old, who shot to fame at the age of 25 on his own reality show The Naked Chef, opened up about his career struggles in a new interview in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. Pictured: Jamie in the early days of his success

He has since sold 50 million books and appeared in many other TV shows, including Channel 10’s Jamie’s Kitchen Australia in 2006.

Currently Down Under, Jamie was recently a judge on MasterChef 2024 Australia.

Next month he will present a live chat about his new book Simply Jamie at the Coliseum in Sydney, called Jamie Oliver – The Joy of Cooking.

It comes as Jamie and his wife Jools renewed their vows as they celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas in June.

The beloved foodie and his longtime wife Jools, 49, tied the knot in 2000 and renewed their vows for the first time in 2023 during a family trip in the Maldives.

And when they said yes again, they took to Instagram to share an album of photos from their impulsive day out to celebrate their anniversary.

In a candid new interview, Jamie said his food heroes were ‘terrible’ to him after he became a TV chef and best-selling author. Pictured: Jamie, who has sold more than 50 million books, shows off the cover of his latest book Simply Jamie

Jamie and Jools also share five children; Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 12, and River, seven.

The couple tied the knot again in an informal ceremony, paying tribute to Jools’ all-time favorite hitmaker, Elvis Presley.

Jools arrived at the chapel in jeans, a white blouse and cowboy boots, while Jamie opted for a smarter ensemble and wore a tailored suit.

The couple each shared a slew of photos on their social media accounts to document their memorable day.

Jools wrote: ‘Happy 24 crazy married years together. I love you so much, thank you for indulging my LOVE for Elvis.

‘I know there are three people in this marriage… but you understand me like no other!

‘Just wait and see what I have planned for our 25th @jamieoliver’

While Jamie wrote: ‘Happy 24th wedding anniversary. 24 years!!! I love you – Las Vegas baby!! big love really nice, Jamie xxx.’