To think Jools has the perfect life

[Theyretryingnottolaughonthismorning]

Jools Oliver

Lots of kids, with partner since very young, lots of money, beautiful home.
I realise no one's life is perfect, but it seems ideal. Found love early, no rubbish men or heartbreak or loneliness of being alone and struggling. loads of kids and a loving, large family there as you get older, no money worries or having to work unless you want to, amazing countryside home

Am envious!

This is how I feel He may be lovely. He annoys me so much though

Really? The older girls seem to be doing well for themselves, one of them is a nurse iirc.

I think I would prefer to be Sophie Ellis Bextor, loads of kids nice house but still have my own career.

Not a life I’d want; far too many kids!

God, I would hate lots of kids; being quasi triphy wife and being a married to a celeb.
Nobody will believe me, but I don't want a large house in the country and a celeb lifestyle. Happy with my small and manageable house in London and I have enough money for my needs plus no kids called Buddy Bear. ( sorry any Buddy Bears out there).

Jools Holland maybe?

I thought she was training as a midwife? Anyway she seems to have a lot going for her and Jamie seems very family oriented as well

Same. No money on earth could get me to have even one.
I don't envy anyone's life.

I guess they have lots of kids because they have plenty of money and not much else to do other than have kids.

Large families can be nice you know.

And for all those posters who have commented on her having a rich husband, as if to insinuate that she targetted him, it's worth remembering that he wasn't rich when she married him. Thats why marriages like hers and Colleen Rooneys last so long - because no matter what, at least the men can be sure the women didn't marry them for money.

He has had affairs, one after another.

Again, nobody will believe me, but I envy Mary Beard's life. Saw her speak recently. Seems like a happy, secure highly respected woman with a great career and a manageable number of kids.
Plus she lives in Cambridge. I love Cambridge.

She may well be very happy, or not, we can't know for sure. My dsis's life isn't very different from hers except her dh isn't famous. It's kind of enviable, but dsis has long covid, hasn't dealt with childhood issues so overfunctions, plus the more dc the more potential worry.

As pp said, Sophie Ellis Bextor's life is possibly more satisfying but again we can't know.

The thing to do with these feelings, I believe, is to think "what aspects of that person's life can I increase in my own life?" And the things you can't have, look for the downsides of having them!

Loads of kids, to me, means loads of worries. I worry enough about my nieces and nephews suffering and finding life hard. I'd feel completely responsible for my own children's pain and that would be unbearable. I'm also autistic and am shocked that an autistic woman would have children knowing how painful life is!

I think she is happy and has a lovely life.

But I do think it took a lot of hard craft to get to this point.

Comparison is the thief of joy and nobody knows what's round the corner.

oh that Jools...well I wouldn't marry a slack mouthed opinionated idiot but each to their own.

I would probably swap with Lucy Worsley! She appears very happy in herself. Plus all the beautiful buildings she gets to hang out in.

Yes I know. If I had the money and lifestyle I think four or five kids would be great. I wouldn’t want them to fill a void in my relationship though, and hopefully this is not the case with Jools (or Tana). Having a spouse who travels the world and is constantly busy would not be for me though.

Anyone who thinks Jools married him for his money is ignorant as she was with him before any of that was a guarantee.

Gawd no. She's giving virtual tradwife vibes. It seems like she never had a career of any description? And having to look at and have sex with that blob faced fuck? I literally would rather be single and live in a hostel.

I'm sure she's a perfectly nice person but her life does not impress me at all.

Well, I wouldn’t want 5 children and even if I did want a large family, I wouldn’t want their age gaps. They literally had teenagers, primary age kids and a newborn simultaneously. Even with money to throw at support, that would be a seriously limiting factor in terms of head space plus being able to do things as a family which work for everyone.

Of course they may be perfectly happy with that choice but it’s not one I’m envious of. I’m glad my children moved through each phase together and that we didn’t do the baby/ toddler years on rinse and repeat.

Puts me in mind of back in the day when Jamie Oliver had the advertising partnership with Sainsbury's and I worked in one of the customer facing roles in a fairly big city centre branch of Sainsbury's. . One of the customers I was serving was banging on about how Jamie said this, and Jamie said the other.It took me a while to realise she wasn't talking about her DH or DP: she was actually talking about Jamie Oliver.

Not my perfect life. She’s playing second fiddle to a main man. It’s the dynamic my parents had. Not for me.

How would you know? Are you one of his flngs?

I do like Jamie Oliver though. He does seem like a good choice of DH, so fair enough to both of them for sticking together

Nobody has a perfect life.

Accept that fact and I'm sure you'll feel less envious.

Money doesn't protect you from the worries that children can bring.
I wish her well.
Self made businesses involve hard work and sacrifice, money too, sure, but huge sacrifice too.

My sister is very very wealthy.
Her husband was never around.
She raised the children on her own, with him in the background.
She is now involved in the business as her children are now all adults.
Yes they are extremely wealthy, but I wouldn't swap the last 25 years with her for anything.
She had it hard raising 5 children with a husband floating about like Billy Big Bollix in the background.
I doubt he EVER looked after his children alone, even once, when young.
He made sure he was far too busy with work, even on the weekends.

The first three words in your post instantly invalidate any 'perfect life' claim. My perfect life certainly does not involve 'lots of kids'! It doesn't involve Jamie Oliver either. Which isn't to say Jools isn't very happy. Who knows really? None of us have a clue what's going on in other people's lives behind the cheery exterior.