He is known as the naked chef for his simple approach to cooking, but now Jamie Oliver is baring some of the most intimate details of his family life.
Jamie and Jools Oliver with their three daughters - Daisy, Poppy, Petal and newborn son, Buddy Photo: REX
In a surprisingly candid interview, the father of four admits that he and his wife sometimes "despise" each other and laments the fact that his job turns him into a weekend dad.
He also admits that women "threw themselves" at him after he became famous.
The celebrity chef confesses that he has never read a book in his life, but says he is more passionate about schooling than anything else.
Speaking in a Radio 5 Live interview to be..
broadcast this week, the 35-year-old opens up about the strains on his marriage that result from his hectic work schedule.
broadcast this week, the 35-year-old opens up about the strains on his marriage that result from his hectic work schedule.
"Having had four kids there's naturally a flow of having the baby, all the emotions that are so exciting and brilliant, then the hard graft and the routines and the lack of sleep together," he says.
"Jools is an amazing mum and she's all over it like a rash, but she also likes me to be involved with it as much as possible. Really I'm a weekend dad if the truth be told."
The couple celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary earlier this year and had their fourth child in September. Jools Oliver has previously talked about struggling to cope with loneliness when the chef is away with work.
In 2005, he vowed to quit public life within three years to spend more time with his wife and children. But his profile has continued to grow.
"I'm so tired. Four kids are really hard work," he says.
"I've been with my Mrs since I was 18-years-old and she just never left so we just thought we might as well get married.
"There's a natural sort of tempo to having a relationship and it's not brilliant all the time but it goes through lovely cycles."
He continues: "I just think marriage is comedy really, it's absolute comedy, to love someone so dearly but also despise them at the same time is absolutely comedy.
"We sometimes burst out laughing because we can't stand each other at that moment in time.
"But also we know each other so well and it's a comfortable, safe place.
"Our relationship works because she doesn't see me as any kind of expert at cooking or anything like that. She just sees me as a young Essex boy she went out with at 18."
Jools Oliver was seen crying during Oliver's Jamie's School Dinners TV series over false claims her husband was having an affair, but the chef admits he was bombarded with offers from women after becoming famous.
"It wasn't just young girls [throwing themselves at me], it was medium and young girls and it was classic slightly rock star-esque: random knickers and bras getting thrown at you.
"When The Naked Chef kicked off it was a bit like a pop band. The memories of it were absolutely ballistically crazy.
"When I got married and had kids it stopped overnight which was a massive relief."
In the interview, called The Naked Chef Unwrapped, Oliver pays tribute to his wife's devotion as a mother, which he says allows him to concentrate on his work.
He says he doesn't get to spend enough "quality time" with his children, but says he is keen to get them working in the business when they're 10-years-old.
"I'm going to make sure that if they want something in life they'll know they'll have to work for it.
"As soon as they're about ten, I'm going to get them working three hours on a Saturday and a Sunday, get them in the business, get them sort of realising you have to put a few hours of sweat in to get a couple of quid.
"No pocket money, which I know sounds really simplistic, but, genuinely, I know that that with my dad shaped me massively."
Despite become Britain's biggest-selling author after JK Rowling, Oliver, who is dyslexic, admits he has never read a book.
"My dyslexia's a weird one, sometimes I have really good days at reading, sometimes I read like a five year old.
"It's weird because my daughter, Poppy, reads a book a day and she's eight. A book a day, I'm talking a book half an inch thick. And the terrible thing is, I've never read a book in my life ever."
He branded one of his Twitter followers an 'idiot' after they criticised his spelling, but he says he see his dyslexia as "a total bonus".
"The people who I admire and love who get me going, Richard Branson, Paul Smith, they're all dyslexic."
Sales of the celebrity chef's cookbooks have raised more than £100 million, with his most recent Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, selling almost 80,000.
The Naked Chef Unwrapped is being broadcast on Radio 5 Live on Thursday at 6.30pm.
The couple celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary earlier this year and had their fourth child in September. Jools Oliver has previously talked about struggling to cope with loneliness when the chef is away with work.
In 2005, he vowed to quit public life within three years to spend more time with his wife and children. But his profile has continued to grow.
"I'm so tired. Four kids are really hard work," he says.
"I've been with my Mrs since I was 18-years-old and she just never left so we just thought we might as well get married.
"There's a natural sort of tempo to having a relationship and it's not brilliant all the time but it goes through lovely cycles."
He continues: "I just think marriage is comedy really, it's absolute comedy, to love someone so dearly but also despise them at the same time is absolutely comedy.
"We sometimes burst out laughing because we can't stand each other at that moment in time.
"But also we know each other so well and it's a comfortable, safe place.
"Our relationship works because she doesn't see me as any kind of expert at cooking or anything like that. She just sees me as a young Essex boy she went out with at 18."
Jools Oliver was seen crying during Oliver's Jamie's School Dinners TV series over false claims her husband was having an affair, but the chef admits he was bombarded with offers from women after becoming famous.
"It wasn't just young girls [throwing themselves at me], it was medium and young girls and it was classic slightly rock star-esque: random knickers and bras getting thrown at you.
"When The Naked Chef kicked off it was a bit like a pop band. The memories of it were absolutely ballistically crazy.
"When I got married and had kids it stopped overnight which was a massive relief."
In the interview, called The Naked Chef Unwrapped, Oliver pays tribute to his wife's devotion as a mother, which he says allows him to concentrate on his work.
He says he doesn't get to spend enough "quality time" with his children, but says he is keen to get them working in the business when they're 10-years-old.
"I'm going to make sure that if they want something in life they'll know they'll have to work for it.
"As soon as they're about ten, I'm going to get them working three hours on a Saturday and a Sunday, get them in the business, get them sort of realising you have to put a few hours of sweat in to get a couple of quid.
"No pocket money, which I know sounds really simplistic, but, genuinely, I know that that with my dad shaped me massively."
Despite become Britain's biggest-selling author after JK Rowling, Oliver, who is dyslexic, admits he has never read a book.
"My dyslexia's a weird one, sometimes I have really good days at reading, sometimes I read like a five year old.
"It's weird because my daughter, Poppy, reads a book a day and she's eight. A book a day, I'm talking a book half an inch thick. And the terrible thing is, I've never read a book in my life ever."
He branded one of his Twitter followers an 'idiot' after they criticised his spelling, but he says he see his dyslexia as "a total bonus".
"The people who I admire and love who get me going, Richard Branson, Paul Smith, they're all dyslexic."
Sales of the celebrity chef's cookbooks have raised more than £100 million, with his most recent Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, selling almost 80,000.
The Naked Chef Unwrapped is being broadcast on Radio 5 Live on Thursday at 6.30pm.
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