The father-of-five opened up about his family life in a new interview

jamie oliver with sons river and buddy© Instagram

Jamie Oliver has been incredibly open about how his dyslexia has affected him throughout his life, especially during his education, and has consistently advocated for better support for neurodivergent children.

It seems, however, that the celebrity chef isn’t the only member of his family to grow up with a learning difference, as he revealed that some of his children are in the same situation.

In a brand new interview with The Sunday Times, the 50-year-old shared that there have been various diagnoses of dyslexia, ADHD and ASD (also known as autism spectrum disorder) in his “very neurodiverse family” over the last year.

Though he did not go into any more detail than this, he said that he and his wife Jools have in fact “learned to understand that their [children’s] behaviour is because they’re seeing things differently,” and that “being aware of that allows you to be a better parent”.

Jamie and Jools Oliver with their brood of five © Ian Lawrence
Jamie and Jools Oliver share five children

Jamie also called his family life “amazing but bonkers”, joking: “Imagine four neurodiverse people at the dinner table trying to get their point across.”

He further rebuked the attitudes taken towards neurodivergence by older generations, saying: “Older people tend to have the ‘we didn’t have that when we were young’ attitude. We just didn’t know as much about our brains 30 years ago.”

Jamie Oliver’s dyslexia documentary

The celebrity chef has been working on an hour-long documentary for Channel 4 called Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution, which will explore the challenges facing dyslexic children and interrogate what the British government can change to support them within education.

Jamie Oliver in a yellow plaid outfit© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Jamie Oliver is working on a new documentary about dyslexia

Jamie also opened up about the emotional toll that making the documentary took on him, telling the publication: “I’m unpacking quite a lot of stuff. I thought I’d buried it but it’s hitting a nerve. Genuinely, of all the things I’ve ever done, this documentary is the most viscerally painful.

“I’ve seen so many high-flying, talented, grown men cry about this – I’ve just done it to you [referring to his crying during the interview] – the concept of being worthless [when you’re] young is real. It’s really triggering.”

Though the father-of-five has been vocal and open about his struggle with the learning difficulty, especially during his school days, for a long time, he only received his official diagnosis in January of this year.