“Worst Thing In The World”: Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Jamie Oliver candidly shared a “nervous” encounter he had with Oprah Winfrey that left him feeling like it was “the worst thing in the world.” Appearing on Australian breakfast radio show Nova’s Jase & Lauren on Thursday (November 7), the celebrity chef revealed to the hosts how the embarrassing incident unfolded when Oprah visited his London, UK, restaurant in 2004.

Highlights

Jamie Oliver had a nervous encounter serving Oprah in 2004.
A customer confused Oprah with actress Whoopi Goldberg.
Despite the blunder, Jamie and Oprah became great friends.
Jamie nearly ran over Oprah on a moped in the mid-2000s.
Jamie appeared on Australian radio to discuss his new book.

Jamie recalled: “I think I got nervous cooking for Oprah just because I think she’s really interesting. She came to my Fifteen restaurant.”

Fifteen Cornwall was the 49-year-old’s restaurant located in Britain’s capital. The venue shut its doors in December 2019, after running for 14 years.

Jamie further revealed on Thursday that he had worked extra hard to ensure things ran smoothly while Oprah was dining there, but was left red-faced at the end of the night after another customer confused Oprah with US actress Whoopi Goldberg, The Daily Mail reported on Thursday.

Jamie Oliver candidly shared a “nervous” encounter he had with Oprah Winfrey

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: jamieoliver/thismorning

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: jamieoliver

He explained: “As soon as she walked through, the whole restaurant stood up and clapped. We had a lovely, lovely time, and we cooked her a lovely meal.

“She loved the concept, and then as she left, they stood up again and started clapping, and one customer went, ‘We love you, Whoopi.’

“And it’s like, ‘Shut up!’ It was the worst thing in the world.”

The encounter left him feeling like it was “the worst thing in the world”

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: jamieoliver

Fortunately, Oprah shook the blunder off and she and Jamie became great friends, and he has frequently appeared as a guest on her talk show, as per The Mail.

Jamie is reportedly in Australia to present a live chat dubbed Jamie Oliver – The Joy of Cooking about his new book Simply Jamie at Sydney’s Coliseum.

The recent blunder involving Oprah isn’t the first slip-up this restaurateur has had with the talk show icon.

Speaking on the On Jimmy’s Farm podcast in 2022, Jamie revealed that he nearly ran over Oprah in the mid-2000s.

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

The Essex native was booked as a guest on Oprah’s TV series when he nearly knocked the legendary talk show host off her feet as he was riding a moped, The Mail reported in February 2022.

He explained: “I did my walk-through for the recipe and they wanted me to drive in on the scooter – then you’d rehearse it.

“The next time I did it was in front of a full audience of 600 people. There was a family that I was cooking with for the week and then there was Oprah.”

**He appeared on Australian breakfast radio show Nova’s Jase & Lauren on Thursday (November 7)**

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: jamieoliver

“What no one told anyone was that the cleaners came through after the test and polished the floor.

“I burst in, put my foot on the brakes and nothing happened. I was going towards Oprah and I wasn’t stopping. I flew off the bike.”

He then recalled: “Her security thought I was trying to take her out. He got quite feisty.”

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

Image credits: news.com.au

“The lawyers were obsessed that I was going to try and sue them and I was like, ‘I don’t care, I’m fine.’”

In addition to his busy career as a renowned chef, touring, publishing books, and opening restaurants, Jamie is also a devoted father to his five children and a dedicated husband to his wife, former model and writer Juliette Norton.

Jamie and Juliette share Poppy Honey Rosie (born 18 March 2002), Daisy Boo Pamela (born 10 April 2003), Petal Blossom Rainbow (born 3 April 2009), Buddy Bear Maurice (born 15 September 2010), and River Rocket Blue Dallas (born 7 August 2016).

“He needs to get out more,” a reader commented

"Worst Thing In The World": Jamie Oliver Opens Up About Humiliating Experience With Oprah Winfrey

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I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

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As a visual editor in the News team, I look for the most interesting pictures and comments to make each post interesting and informative through images, so that you aren't reading only blocks of text. I joined Bored Panda not that long ago, but in this short amount of time I have covered a wide range of topics: from true crime to Taylor Swift memes (my search history is very questionable because of that).In my freetime, I enjoy spending time at the gym, gaming, binging Great British Bake Off and adding yet another tattoo artist that I would love to get a tattoo from to my pinterest board.

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Hate Hater 4 hours ago

So many meaningful stuff are happening out there in the world, and yet again you chose an irrelevant topic of a minor incident between two millionaires.

4points

Chewie Baron 52 minutes ago

You could have mentioned that the Fifteen restaurant was actually a project where he gave people a chance at a job when they had nothing left for them. People who’d been in Youth Detention Centres, had been refused benefits, were homeless, etc etc.

1point

John Harrison 8 minutes ago

Try imagining a triangle with four sides. Notice how you can't do it? That's how much I can't imagine caring about this story.

0points

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Hate Hater 4 hours ago

So many meaningful stuff are happening out there in the world, and yet again you chose an irrelevant topic of a minor incident between two millionaires.

4points