Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

jamie oliver is he total fake?

177 replies

orangelotus · 13/09/2023 10:26

i read this today and must say i had no idea of the scale of financial stuff going on.

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-perverse-greed-of-jamie-oliver-2/

i think i feel angry as i've spent my entire working life in Newham and can see how poor many children are there.
It is shocking how he presents himself as this do goofing crusader but his dealings with small businesses and local councils have been so shady .
i feel angry with myself for having fallen for his nonsense.

OP posts:
Takeabreather23 · 13/09/2023 13:22

Can’t stick him. Can’t have a real
sugar cola , but he’s overweight and that’s aloud.

KingsHeath53 · 13/09/2023 13:25

whynotwhatknot · 13/09/2023 13:12

him and his sugar tax so were getting less choice now and have to have aspartame yeah thanks jamie

also trying to stop 2 for 1 deals whilst using cream butter and more cream

It’s not ‘his’ sugar tax. He wasn’t and never has been in government.

The government introduced the tax because of overwhelming evidence that the increasingly massive amount of sugar in our food is causing huge health problems.

They regulate the sale of cigarettes too and they kill less people than obesity these days.

ohsuzannah · 13/09/2023 13:25

God that's awful 😣
I used to like his shows in the beginning. I've even got one of his books 😒

KingsHeath53 · 13/09/2023 13:27

Takeabreather23 · 13/09/2023 13:22

Can’t stick him. Can’t have a real
sugar cola , but he’s overweight and that’s aloud.

But you can have a real sugar cola? Who’s stopping you?

He’s also never told anyone they aren’t allowed to be fat?

TheClitterati · 13/09/2023 13:27

If Julie Burchill got anything incorrect in her article Jamie Oliver has plenty of ££ to sue.

I'll wait over here >>>>

ForTheLoveOfSleep · 13/09/2023 13:27

Jamie Oliver is his own brand. Anyone who's on TV, in media etc. has a public persona and their actual personality. Why are pepople still so surprised by this?

StTropezTan · 13/09/2023 13:28

Overrated and pretentious- like most TV chefs.

His restaurants were the same. Very small portions but very expensive for what they were, so much for being a man of the people. I’m not a huge eater but I had a lasagne that was almost starter sized. When it was served I actually thought, “Is that it?!”
I made the mistake of agreeing to go to a couple of his cookware parties too. Overpriced nonsense that I could have bought for a fraction of the price in Robert Dyas.

FKATondelayo · 13/09/2023 13:34

I love the bit in his live lockdown show demonstrating how to feed your family cheap nutritional wholesomeness from the store cupboard when his kid appeared behind him eating quavers.

Sarvanga38 · 13/09/2023 13:34

I'm in the camp of 'at least he tries to do some good he believes in, good family man'. There are far worse than him out there, just at home enjoying their millions without trying to improve anything for anyone.

As for Buddy, if ever there was a natural chef who is at home in the kitchen and in front of the cameras, he seems to be it. If he has his own programme and encourages some kids to get in the kitchen and cook proper food, that will be another win for the Oliver family as far as I can see it.

gwenneh · 13/09/2023 13:43

JingsMahBucket · 13/09/2023 10:59

Is it time for the semiannual Jamie Oliver character assassination again already?

Yes. Must be autumn.

ruffler45 · 13/09/2023 13:44

NOTANUM · 13/09/2023 13:01

He’s rather naive I think. He relied on his father or brother in law (can’t remember which) and the business went bust. But that’s not good enough really when your name is on the front door, dyslexia or no dyslexia.

I suspect he cares about nutrition although perhaps in a self-serving “gimme an OBE” way, but has no idea how most people live. He can’t go out and meet these people like you and me can or would - as a geezer he’s supposed to know.. But this stuff is hard - our politicians can’t work it out. We expect too much from him.

No one is naive who acquires wealth stated at £240 millions and has been a director of 52 companies (according to companies house). Directors have legal duties and responsibilities.

ScribblingPixie · 13/09/2023 13:45

As for Buddy, if ever there was a natural chef who is at home in the kitchen and in front of the cameras, he seems to be it. If he has his own programme and encourages some kids to get in the kitchen and cook proper food, that will be another win for the Oliver family as far as I can see it.

I agree. Jamie Oliver's arrival actually did spark an interest in cooking in men I know - he made it seem like there weren't fixed rules and just something they could just have a bash at. That's really valuable to a society that's struggling with poor dietary habits, and if his son can do the same with kids it's a positive.

Araminta34 · 13/09/2023 13:48

I don't like all this vitriol from people who don't actually know him. I don't know him either, but I wouldn't condemn him on the basis that he makes money. No one is 'totally fake,' how could they be? He has a strong personality and comes across as sincere. I don't think his accent is fake either.
Too many people echoing here.

Proudgypsy · 13/09/2023 13:50

I don't know but his recipes are shit

horseyhorsey17 · 13/09/2023 13:52

Julie Burchill has got a point. He shouldn't be pontificating about feeding poorer kids while actively making them poorer - which he has done unless he's paid that £80K debt his company owes to Newham council. That is pretty sickening.

Buddy is of absolutely zero interest and I'll avoid his show, because it's also of zero interest. Nepo babies are visibly making the creative industries - TV, film, theatre, the arts - worse because they're getting all the opportunities now and they just don't have the talent. But they're everywhere, like cockroaches, and even harder to get rid of.

horseyhorsey17 · 13/09/2023 13:54

TheClitterati · 13/09/2023 13:27

If Julie Burchill got anything incorrect in her article Jamie Oliver has plenty of ££ to sue.

I'll wait over here >>>>

You can see the joins in her writing where an editor has smoothed out that article. Unless there's data in it that's factually inaccurate, the rest is opinion, so all completely legit.

WhatapityWapiti · 13/09/2023 13:56

LlynTegid · 13/09/2023 11:16

His mockney accent is fake for starters.

Didn’t he grow up in a pub in Essex? What do you think his real accent should be?

ForeverbyJudyBlume · 13/09/2023 13:57

fruitstick · 13/09/2023 13:18

I like Jamie Oliver. I'm not really that interested in behind the scenes.

I get angry that we hold people who do good things to different standards.

There are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who do fuck all and deliberately screw people over, but that's accepted because they're 'capitalist'

But show a hint of wanting to make a difference socially, or do anything for charity and suddenly you have to be squally clean or give all your money away otherwise they're a hypocrite.

Leave Jamie Oliver alone and save your wrath for the people who make millions actively making people's lives worse.

Hear hear to all of this and what a shame people would rather believe toxic Julie Burchill who has never tried to help anyone in her life over JO

As some have said he does not pretend to be perfect and his restaurant chain was a disaster, but he is trying to do more with his life than fly around on private jets and hang out with the Kardashians

He's founded a charity called Biteback 2030 which trains young people - mainly disadvanatged - to be lobbyists and work to improve food standards for the young. His name is not attached to it but they use his hq, it's really admirable stuff

On a personal note, I've met him a handful of times through work and he is absolutely lovely and 100 per cent sincere

Hope the keyboard warriors are busy trying to make a difference to the world

hittingtheshelves · 13/09/2023 14:00

Fuck the Spectator.

amusedbush · 13/09/2023 14:01

PurpleWisteria1 · 13/09/2023 13:21

I think choice should be taken away.
And better choices introduced.
50 years ago there wasn’t all this awful crap on the shelves - far less choice and people were a healthy weight.
But food companies won’t do that as it won’t make them money so good- I’m glad the government stepped in and it needs to do far far more.

A fair argument but they're not introducing better choices, they're just swapping out the same products for inferior versions. They are still churning out the same number of "awful crap" products but now it's full of artificial sweeteners, which can't be great for us considering the banging headache they give me.

Meanwhile, people can still access cheap sugar in the form of chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, etc. It seems like a weirdly lopsided attack on sugar that will have little effect overall.

Mydahliasareshit · 13/09/2023 14:02

Gennaro, on the other hand, is the real deal. JO was so lucky to have him around in his youth. I used to go to his restaurant Passione in Charlotte St a lot back in the day, it was just heaven on a plate. Much better than the River 'we really see you coming' Cafe.

MaryEarpsTongue · 13/09/2023 14:03

amusedbush · 13/09/2023 13:18

No they don't. As a PP said, only Coke is available in the original recipe.

Barr's ruined all of their products to avoid the sugar tax, including Irn Bru. They released a special edition version with the original recipe but only in impractical large glass bottles, not cans. Their classic drinks (Barr's cola, cream soda, limeade, etc) were fairly low sugar to begin with but have recently gone sugar free, and they now taste disgusting.

I'm not here to argue about sugar's long-term impact on health - my issue is purely that my choice has been taken away.

But that isn't his fault. That's the fault of the drinks manufacturers who as you say, changed their recipes to avoid the sugar tax. They didn't have to do that. They could have kept them the same, accepted they would make less money as people would buy less, and perhaps diversified or explored ways to make drinks healthier.

IClaudine · 13/09/2023 14:05

Proudgypsy · 13/09/2023 13:50

I don't know but his recipes are shit

I don't agree. Of the ones I have tried, almost all of them have worked for me.

sawnotseen · 13/09/2023 14:05

@Damnloginpopup you said it so well

IClaudine · 13/09/2023 14:07

Anyway, he has a new series about to start, so I'll be watching!