He may know how to make magic in the kitchen, but not even Jamie Oliver can get his five kids to eat their meals without someone complaining.
“I’d say about three times out of 10 it’s really pleasant,” Jamie, 42, tells TV WEEK. “But seven times out of 10, someone’s kicking off. It’s carnage.
“Look, cooking for kids is utter psychological warfare and this thing called perfection doesn’t really exist!”
When he’s not busy in the kitchen, Jamie is helping his wife, Jools, raise their children: Poppy, 15, Daisy, 14, Petal, eight, Buddy, six, and 10-month-old River.
When it comes to the dinner table, Jamie reveals the couple rely on “code and eye language”. He says they also use plenty of trusty tricks to control tantrums, such as hiding vegies in food. But one thing they never do is cook the kids separate meals.
“If you get into that pattern, you’ll end up doing it for a long time,” he warns.
And it turns out, mealtime isn’t the only thing Jamie dreads. The thought of his eldest daughter having a boyfriend makes him sick to the stomach.
“It’s going to happen any minute now,” he groans. “Poppy is 15… the poor girl probably just wants a boyfriend. I’m a little bit nervous about it.”
The other person who should probably be nervous in that equation is the as yet unknown boyfriend.
“I mean, if she brings a d***head back, I’m going to end up saying the wrong thing. I’ll end up sharpening a knife,” he chuckles.
