Jamie Oliver: Changing The Way We Eat Didn't Make Me Popular!

Begin Again with Davina McCall

FlightStory

Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 972 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Begin Again, world-renowned chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver shares the real reason he has fought so hard to change the way we eat and live. Telling his life story in full, Jamie reflects on growing up in a pub kitchen, navigating school with dyslexia, and rising to fame as a young chef whose cookbooks would go on to sell millions of copies around the world. He opens up about the highs and lows of his career, from building his mentoring restaurant Fifteen to taking on the government with his school dinner campaigns. Jamie also speaks movingly about family life, his enduring relationship with wife Jools, fatherhood, and the emotional moments that have shaped him most. With honesty, insight, and passion, Jamie reveals how food became his purpose, how activism became his calling, and why creating change has always been personal. 👉 Follow us on Instagram: @beginagain 🎥 Watch more on TikTok: @beginagainpod (00:00) Intro (00:01:00) 30 Years of The Naked Chef (00:02:00) Forming a Relationship With Food (00:04:43) Jamie the Activist: How It All Began (00:07:16) Jamie’s School Years and Dyslexia (00:10:30) Where Jamie’s Confidence Comes From (00:11:55) Finding Value in Pain and Failure (00:14:58) From Public Figure to University: Studying Nutrition (00:17:24) Jamie on Choice, Food Culture, and Unlocking Potential (00:20:54) Fifteen: Jamie’s Mentorship-Driven Non-Profit Restaurant (00:33:36) Adobe Ad (00:34:45) Fifteen’s Legacy and the Power of Human Connection (00:44:08) Fame at 23: TV Stardom and Loneliness (00:47:40) School Dinner Activism and Jamie’s Support Team (00:54:38) Jamie on Jools and Family Life (00:59:01) A Memorable Moment at Fifteen (01:00:16) 25 Year Marriage (01:03:16) Surprise Letter From Jamie’s Daughter (01:06:19) Turning 50: Emotional Intelligence and Personal Growth (01:08:16) Jamie’s New Cookbook and TV Show: Eat Yourself Healthy Sponsored by: Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.co.uk/host Adobe - http://adobe.ly/Davina Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	At Betway, we've signed Football Royalty, Tieri-on-Ree.
0:05.5	Join us and discover a world of exclusive content, offers and winning moments.
0:10.3	18 plus tis and C's Apply, Bed the Responsible Way, gamblerware.org.
0:15.1	When the world turned against you, what kept you going?
0:18.2	The truth is...
0:19.5	If you say the word chef, we just all go, Jamie. I don't know how it's all happened, really. I mean, seeing you that first time at the River Cafe, you were actually standing in for someone. Yeah, I was never supposed to be there. And then you fast forward to the 24-year-old that sold a million books and went really quickly from being very skin to being quite wealthy. I was really uncomfortable with it.
0:38.4	Oh, wow.
0:38.8	And I had money in the bank, and I just spent it all.
0:42.0	Everyone's looking at me going, he's either mad or genius.
0:44.6	And I've had my fair share of failure.
0:46.1	I think my average was probably 50-50.
0:48.0	You have taken a lot of flack for doing something so brilliant for us.
0:51.8	I wanted to talk to you about school dinners.
0:54.5	Yeah, it was 18 months of, frankly.
0:57.4	But then the minute that all the naysayers saw that,
1:01.6	everyone changed within 10 hours.
1:03.7	Oh, wow.
1:04.3	I'm very grateful for Jules.
1:05.8	And our 25-year journey of marriage,
1:07.7	she's definitely the right.
1:08.6	Life's a bit of a numbers game.
1:10.0	And you've got to have a go otherwise you never know. First of all, I want to say, I'm so excited to have you here.
	...

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