Jamie Oliver’s secret to 25 years of marriage? A whole lot of love with just a dash of tension.
“I wouldn’t be the first to say opposites attract,” the celebrity chef told Good Housekeeping in an interview published on Tuesday. “We get on very well and we genuinely like each other, but we’re also very different. That can create a certain tension, but it also seems to work, and I feel very blessed to have had 25 years.”
Oliver first met his wife, Juliette “Jools” Norton, when they were teenagers. The couple married in 2000 and shares five kids.
But even after all this time together, Oliver says marriage takes work, and they’re “just wrestling through like anyone else.”
What matters most is “not to hold grudges, and to try to communicate as much as possible,” he said.
Oliver added that “sometimes it doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong” because, ultimately, he just wants his wife to be happy.
In a 2021 appearance on the “12 Questions” podcast, Oliver said his wife, daughters — and the women he works with — help keep his ego in check.
“And they don’t sit there telling me how great I am all day, let’s just put it that way. They keep me in check, as well as my wife. And now my daughters,” Oliver said.
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Speaking to People in April, Oliver credited his wife for holding down the fort at home.
“I think it hasn’t been easy, and we’ve had a few bumps here and there, but on the whole, so far, so good. And probably most of that credit should go to Jools, but I’d like to think I’m a good dad,” Oliver said.
A representative for Oliver did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
Oliver isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about the ways they maintain strong relationships with their spouses.
Rob Lowe, who has been married to Sheryl Berkoff for over 30 years, said he goes to couples therapy with her regularly because “it’s like taking your car in and making sure the engine’s running great.”
Kelsey Grammar said thinking of love as a “contact sport” is the key to his 14-year marriage to his wife, Kayte Walsh.
“Once in a while, you got to back it up with some action,” Grammar said.
