Television chef Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools have announced the engagement of their eldest daughter, 24-year-old Poppy Honey Rose, to her boyfriend of five years, Ben.
The couple, both 51, marked their 26th wedding anniversary in June. Over the years, the chef and the midwife have spoken openly about navigating fame, balancing careers, and facing personal struggles as they raised their five children.
A teenage romance
Jamie met Jools in 1992 when they were teenagers. The pair were set up on a double date by Jamie's friend Jimmy Doherty, who went on to become a television presenter.
In a 2018 interview with the Daily Mail, Jamie recalled a double date to a cinema in Cambridge with Doherty and two girls named Juliette and Sue Stump. They were travelling in a Fiesta with big fog lights and an exhaust like a tractor, listening to Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" when they crashed into a braking car.
"My fog lights were hanging off so I just ripped them out and threw them away," Jamie told the publication. "I was so upset." Doherty noted that a car means everything at that age, adding that Juliette must have wondered what was happening.
Jools moved to Tokyo for a job for three months when she was 17, and Jamie sent her a letter or a fax every day. Jools posted a photograph of the letters in 2017. Reflecting on their early life in London, Jamie told Flow Magazine he was "as poor as a church mouse" with just £100 left at the end of the month, surviving on his wife's tips.
Jamie asked Jools' father for permission to marry, but was told they were too young. Her father died when Jools was 22. Jamie proposed on Christmas Eve in the pouring rain over her late father's grave, calling the moment a "vile, dark time" but a "beautiful thing."
Fame and television shows
After training at Westminster Catering College and working at Carluccio's, Jamie became a sous chef at The River Cafe in Fulham at the age of 23. BBC producers noticed him there, and his show "The Naked Chef" premiered on BBC Two in 1999.
Jamie told The Telegraph in 2010 that the show's three years felt like being in a pop band. "It was classic slightly rock star-esque: random knickers and bras getting thrown at you," he said. "The memories of it were absolutely ballistically crazy."
The couple had agreed Jamie would spend five years in the London restaurant scene before moving to Essex to open a pub, but his television success changed their path. Jamie released best-selling cookbooks and presented "Oliver's Twist" and "Jamie's Kitchen," while "Jamie's School Dinners" saw him campaign to improve meals for schoolchildren in the UK.
They married in 2000 at their local Essex church. Jamie told "Newlyweds" podcast hosts Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo he found his first wedding "awkward and embarrassing" with his family present. Jools initially worked as Jamie's personal assistant before stepping back for childcare.
Balancing work and family
The couple welcomed Poppy in March 2002 and Daisy Boo Pamela, 23, in April 2003.
In 2005, Jamie promised to take six months off to spend with the family. He broke the promise to film a six-week tour for the Channel 4 show "Jamie's Great Italian Escape."
The Metro reported fans speculated their marriage was strained after the chef was filmed telling his wife to "f**k off" during a phone call. Jamie told the Daily Mail in 2013 he regretted leaving for four weeks at a time when his older girls were toddlers, saying he would have to earn his stripes with them later.
Jools adjusted his schedule, ensuring he took weekends off and six weeks of holiday each year. Jamie told the Australian magazine Women's Weekly in 2021 that his wife allowed him to flourish, calling her his rock. However, Jools admitted around the same time that they bicker constantly, noting Jamie never listens and she can be horribly selfish.
Jools told The Telegraph in 2011 that she checked his phone, email and Twitter. Jamie told Closer magazine in 2018 his wife once accused him of an affair because he returned with green stains on his knees from a courgette patch.
Vow renewals and miscarriages
The family grew with the births of Petal Blossom Rainbow, 17, Buddy Bear Maurice, 15, and River Rocket Blue Dallas, nine. Jools suffered five miscarriages, including one during lockdown. She told the Saying Goodbye charity's "Life & Soul" podcast in 2021 that her second miscarriage made her home look like a "murder scene" and left her with PTSD.
She said she felt guilty discussing the losses and hid them from her mother. "I was sure she was thinking, 'You're 40 something, you've got a wonderful family, you've got everything you've ever wanted, why are you pushing it?'" Jools said.
In 2023, the couple took their children to the Maldives to renew their vows for their 23rd anniversary, a trip delayed from their 20th by the pandemic. Jamie told the "Newlyweds" podcast he was initially embarrassed by the posh holiday but ended up loving it. He also admitted he sometimes feels lonely in his marriage, saying there can be a month and a half where they do not like each other.
The couple also held a casual Vegas ceremony with an Elvis Presley tribute. Jamie told Good Housekeeping UK they are opposites but genuinely like each other.
Jamie told Davina McCall on the "Begin Again" podcast that Jools is neurodivergent, a condition he said makes her life challenging but gives her incredible instinct. Three months earlier, he confirmed some of their children were also diagnosed with conditions encompassing autism, ADHD or dyslexia.
Celebrating the engagement
Jamie celebrated their 26th anniversary in June with an Instagram post calling Jools his rock. This week, the parents celebrated Poppy's engagement.
Jools shared photographs of Ben proposing on a beach at sunset, writing that her daughter had met her soulmate. Jools said she first noticed Ben five years ago while sweating over a flat-pack shoe rack as she moved Poppy into her second university house, noting he had just moved in next door. Ben and Poppy later travelled around Australia together.
Jools tagged Instagram accounts for Ben and Kate Newman in her post. Jamie posted a statement on his own account, calling the engagement a wonderful moment for his baby girl.
