Jamie Oliver ‘wanted to disappear’ after restaurant empire collapsed
After his restaurant franchise Jamie's Italian went into administration in 2019, Jamie Oliver "wanted to disappear".
Jamie Oliver wanted to "run off and hide away" after his restaurant empire collapsed.
The 49-year-old celebrity chef considered giving up his TV career and leaving the culinary industry for good after his Jamie’s Italian restaurant franchise went into administration in 2019, though 'The Naked Chef' star eventually found the strength to carry on.
Speaking in the Netflix documentary ‘Chef’s Table: Legends’ to commemorate his upcoming 50th birthday, Jamie said: "I wanted to disappear, run off and hide away.
"I was thinking, ‘F***, how has this all been for nothing? Maybe now we wind it up.’ But I didn’t feel it was my time to do that yet.
"As bad and as dark as this was, I’m still employing 150 people. This was definitely not the time for me to quit."
Even so, the collapse of Jamie's Italian weighed heavily on the chef as it resulted in 1,000 job losses and debts of £72 million.
He explained: "The success had happened so quickly. We had 4,500 staff and the wage bill was £75,000 a day - we just couldn’t afford it.
"It was a massive, ‘Oh s***!’ moment.
"I thought, ‘How can I save this?’ I tried everything. We ended up losing all the restaurants - everything that I’d built over 20 years. And it cut deep, the embarrassment and shame.
"Everything felt like I’d f***** up."
Jamie attributed his unwavering determination to carry on to his childhood in Essex, where he felt his dyslexia had held him back at school.
He said: "I never got the right kind of help. If you looked at my reports, they said, ‘Fail, fail, dunce.’
"When you spend the first chunk of your life feeling like you’re not bright and you’ve nothing to offer the world, that could have demoralised me a lot."
Reflecting on the collapse of Jamie’s Italian, the chef admitted his failed business venture had taught him not to put all his energy into making a big "splash".
He said: "I never realised it was all about the ripples.
"Like, if I give a recipe or a little hack or a little tip, that could have positive ripples in your home for years and years."
Since then, Jamie has continued to find success and help people eat better through Channel 4 shows like ‘Jamie’s One-Pan Wonders’ and ‘Jamie’s Air Fryer Meals’, which he has realised is his real legacy.
He said: "One small thing can make beautiful things happen. I had a job and a purpose to guide as many people towards the joy of food and cooking.
"My voice, our voice, can make positive change, and I’m going to give it my best shot."
