Jamie Oliver has revealed his wife Jools is neurodivergent – three months after confirming that some of the couple’s five children have also been diagnosed.
The celebrity chef, 50, spoke candidly about his former model wife to Davina McCall on her podcast Begin Again.
He described the mum-of-five, who owns her own children’s clothing brand, as the ‘rock’ of their family.
Jamie told Davina: ‘She’s quite in the background and she’s done that on purpose. She’s definitely the rock.
‘She’s got incredible instinct, she’s incredibly kind, very funny. I love her to bits. I can’t really talk for her but she has neurodiversities that make her life really interesting and really challenging.
‘Of course there’s positives, but there’s loads of things that, you know – she makes us the way that we are. And I’m very grateful for Jools…and an amazing mum.’
Jamie Oliver has revealed his wife Jools is neurodivergent – three months after confirming that some of the couple’s five children have also been diagnosed
The celebrity chef, 50, spoke candidly about his wife to Davina McCall on her podcast Begin Again (pictured with their kids in 2023)
Neurodivergent is a term that describes people whose brains function differently, encompassing conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia.
Jamie married Jools in 2000 and the couple renewed their wedding vows in 2023 in the Maldives with their children present.
Speaking about how he met his wife, Jamie said he was just 18 years old.
He gushed: ‘She was just very beautiful and pure and just, gorgeous and natural, and quite quirky, quite clumsy.
‘Very cute, and she was always like the odd dresser, she wore really cool clothes, like bonkers stuff.’
Recalling his dates with the former model, Jamie joked how she would always leave men speechless with her looks.
He said: ‘I remember going on dates with her and we’d go past building estates with all the geezers up the scaffolding and they’d just look at her and go “oh yeah” these long legs and these big boobs and all they could say was “fashion, fashion!” and I was like “is that the best you can do” she just baffled them.
In June, Jamie revealed how some of his five children had also been diagnosed as neurodivergent.
Jamie described the mum-of-five and former model, who owns her own kids clothing brand, as the ‘rock’ of their family
Jamie shares daughters Poppy, 23, Daisy, 22, and Petal, 16, and sons Buddy, 14, and River, eight
Jamie married Jools in 2000 and the couple renewed their wedding vows in 2023 in the Maldives with their children present (pictured in 2001)
The TV star shares daughters Poppy, 23, Daisy, 22, and Petal, 16, and sons Buddy, 14, and River, eight.
He told The Sunday Times how he and Jools discuss their children in bed each night and have ‘learnt to understand that their behaviour is because they’re seeing things differently’.
He added that being aware of their children’s differences ‘allows you to be a better parent’.
And amid the conditions affecting many members of his family, Jamie went on to joke that home life is ‘bonkers’, remarking: ‘Imagine four neurodiverse people at the dinner table trying to get their point across.’
Jamie also went on to say that he feels attitudes towards neurodivergence are generational, noting that ‘older people’ tend to reflect on not having these issues ‘when they were young’,
He countered that people ‘didn’t know as much about our brains 30 years ago’.
Jamie, who is dyslexic, said how he was called ‘stupid dunce’ at school and his learning issues left him feeling ‘worthless, stupid and thick.
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing and spelling and difficulties with processing.
