Jamie Oliver’s face on the telly is a sight that’s become pretty familiar to most Aussies. The celebrity chef has been gracing our screens for the better part of 25 years, starting with The Naked Chef in 1999 all the way to last year’s Jamie’s One Pan Wonders. So when the 47-year-old appears on Zoom to chat exclusively to WHO about all things Masterchef Australia, it’s almost like chatting to an old friend. “I’ve just had my coffee, so I’m feeling good,” he says from the UK, where he lives with his wife Jools and their five children.
Watch Below: MasterChef 2023: A Season Full Of Surprises? You Brent Believe!
If you’re a fan of the hit show, you’ll know by now that Oliver is this year’s MasterChef Secrets & Surprises’ first guest judge. And it’s clear from the start of our conversation that the beloved Essex-born cook is an avid admirer of the series too. “It was such a pleasure [being on the show]. The Aussie Masterchef is like the best one in the world. By quite a long way. It’s epic,” he says of the franchise Down Under. “Obviously I work on big shows and high quality shows, but there’s nothing quite like this… I’m telling you. So it was a pleasure to come over and kick things off.”
And it seems Oliver’s love for Australia doesn’t just stop at the show, with the chef revealing he’s long felt a strong connection with our great nation. “When The Naked Chef kicked off 25 years ago, it was a bit of a game changer. And in a weird kind of way, if you look back at it now, it was kind of more Aussie than British,” he tells WHO of his first trip Down Under all those years ago. “I was embraced very quickly as kind of one of their own, which is a lovely feeling when you’re so far away from home and I love it. I love the energy, love the vibe. I love the humour…And I always learn things and I always have a laugh.” So a visit Down Under to film this year’s Masterchef was a very welcome opportunity. “I’ve got a lot of friends over there and even family, so after lockdown, it was kind of like one of my first long haul trips, which was so good to break the seal.”
Starring in the first two episodes, Oliver joins judges Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen – whom he calls “the best threesome” – to welcome in a brand new bunch of contestants. “You’ve literally got every kind of contestant that you would want in there,” Oliver explains. “You’ve got anything from builders and carpenters to doctors. And then all sorts of different aged mums – young and more mature mums that have just like putting a hard graft looking after kids and have given up their career and their jobs to kind of make the family unit work…and they had their moment to shine.”
Diversity has always been paramount to the cooking competition, with Oliver insisting that “you don’t want a cookie cutter talent”. “You don’t want them all coming out the same, you know, knocking out 1000 Jamie Oliver’s or Gordon Ramsay’s – that would be frightening and also not good for the world. You know you want them to be themselves and their own expression.” So Oliver’s first call to order on the show sees the contestants cook up their ‘Secret Weapon Dish’. “You’ve got thoroughbred Aussies in there, but you’ve also got like first second wave immigration coming through there as well. You’ve got Italians, Asian influences, even Ukrainian, amongst the contestants. So, for me, this was an opportunity to see into their life a little bit through their dish, but also taste some stuff I’ve never tasted before.”
So does Oliver have a secret weapon dish of his own? “Probably like the first thing I ever cooked, a full Sunday roast with all the trimmings,” he admits. “It feels very British. It feels very home. Feels very family. And actually, it’s not easy getting everything to be perfect at the same time…but that was the first thing I ever did when I was about 11 and I remember getting a lot of love from my dad because I think I did a good job.”
Thinking of his standout dish has Oliver reminiscing of his youth, particularly the weekends he spent working in the pub that his parents owned in Essex. “I had a tricky time at school, so at home at the weekend I used to work for pocket money,” he explains. “I started very young in the kitchen. And so school was shit, [but] work was good.”
The kitchen was where Oliver felt most at home. “I don’t even think I was legal,” Oliver jokes. “My dad was the employer of so many children, it was so utterly illegal and he won’t even mind me saying it because he doesn’t care. But what’s really interesting is, for all those kids that struggled at school, they were able to express themselves on the weekends earning a few pounds. We used to get given kids that wouldn’t even talk and then you get you put them straight on the buffet and you get them serving customers. Two weeks later they’re changed people so, you know, the restaurant industry can do that.”
It’s clear Oliver has a passion for fostering the next generation of culinary talent. In 2002, he launched Fifteen, a not-for-profit restaurant in London designed to train up 15 disadvantaged, young, unemployed candidates into chefs. And while the restaurant was forced to close its doors in 2019, getting more kids into the kitchen is still front of mind. “What’s lovely about Masterchef is it’s still a family show. It genuinely is getting kids cooking,” he explains. “It’s very rare to get a family show that can really shape the next generation of cooks and thinkers.”
While reality cooking competitions have become a dime a dozen, Oliver insists that Masterchef Australia really is the gold standard – high praise from someone who, after starring in dozens of shows himself, is an icon of the small screen. “Most of TV is set up so fast and furious because it’s so expensive, that you’re in and out in a couple of weeks or a month and that’s it done and dusted. And the truth is, that’s not true transformation. But this is this is very, very different,” he says of the series. “They’re changing, their personalities are changing, they’re physically changing, they’re mentally changing, their skills are changing. You know, there’s enough room for error in there for them to bounce back and correct like in the real world, right? So even for myself, who kicked off the series, I’m now obsessed to see what happens in the mid and long term and who wins it – it’s very exciting.”
Watch Below: MasterChef 2023: Ralph serves pasta to Jamie Oliver
Speaking of things that Oliver is looking forward to, excitement seems to peak when the conversation turns to the upcoming release of his first children’s book, Billy and the Giant Adventure, which he soon reveals is “a cross between the Goonies, Stranger Things and The Famous Five”. The tome has been a labour of love for Oliver, who suffers from dyslexia, taking him over four years to write. “The true story was I used to put my kids to bed and I’d read them books, but the thing is when you got dyslexia it doesn’t take long for your kids to get better at reading,” he confesses. “It’s not that you can’t read, it’s just that you keep stopping and starting and stumbling all at the wrong time and it gets on their nerves. So they just used to say, ‘Daddy, just read a story from your head.’”
So, the cookbook author took a turn at making up “completely batshit crazy ideas” out of his head and soon a story started forming, which he recorded on a dictaphone. “Obviously over the four years I finished it and finessed it,” he adds. “It was never my intention to do this…but I’m very proud of it.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
