They’ve been married for 25 years

Jamie Oliver has opened up about some of the health issues his wife, Jools, is currently battling with.

The celebrity chef made the admissions during an appearance on Davina McCall’s podcast, Begin Again.

Jamie spoke about his wife on the podcast (Credit: Born Again with Davina McCall / YouTube)

Jamie Oliver on Jools’ health challenges

During his chat with Davina, Jamie, 50, revealed that his wife, Jools, is neurodivergent.

Jools and Jamie tied the knot back in 2000 and have five children together.

“She’s quite in the background, and she’s done that on purpose. She’s definitely the rock,” he told Davina.

“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,” he then continued.

Neurodivergent is a term that is used to describe people whose brains work differently. This encompasses those who have conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia.

Jamie and Jools have been married 25 years (Credit: SplashNews.com)

‘I’m very grateful’

Jamie then continued, saying: “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.”

The chef then went on to speak about how he met Jools when they were just 18 years old.

“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,” 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,” he then added.

Jamie on his children being neurodiverse

Earlier this year, during an interview with The Sunday Times, he revealed how some of his children are neurodiverse.

Jamie and Jools are parents to Poppy, 23, Daisy, 22, Petal, 16, Buddy, 14, and River, eight.

He explained 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 his kids’ differences “allows you to be a better parent”.