Jamie Oliver shares details of agonising health battle that left him unable to stand

18 January 2024, 08:35

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has spoken out about a debilitating health issue
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has spoken out about a debilitating health issue. Picture: Getty

By Asher McShane

Jamie Oliver has described how he is battling to recover his health after suffering a debilitating health condition for four years.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The chef, 48, who is married to Jools, 49, said he had been left unable to stand for more than 40 seconds at a time due to multiple slipped discs.

He told The Sunday Times Magazine: “I'm just getting back into normal gyming as I've had four years of three slipped discs. It's about managing it — my job doesn't allow me not to work. 

“If I stop, this whole thing falls apart. I've had weeks where I've been able to stand for only 40 seconds at a time.”

Jamie said despite the pain, he has persisted with a daily routine of waking up at 4.30am and working out with a trainer before he starts work.

Read more: Kate ‘doing well’ after successful abdominal surgery as William clears calendar while she recovers

Read more: At least seven killed as Pakistan launches retaliatory airstrikes on Iran

Back in 2022 Jamie explained how changing his diet had helped him drop lots of weight.

He told the Radio Times at the time: “I pushed meat down, pushed veggie up, got more sleep and more movement. I lost 12 kilos (two stone) quite quickly and I didn’t do it through not eating. I ate a lot, more than I used to.”

Slipped discs are a painful condition when the tissue between the bones in your spine moves out of place - resulting in lower back pain, neck pain, numbness, tingling in the shoulders, back and feet, muscle weakness and swelling.

It makes it difficult to bend or straighten the back and can hinder ability to work and exercise.

Slipped discs can need surgery but often sort themselves out with rest and gentle movement.

Jamie married wife Jools in 2000. The couple have five children: Poppy, 21, Daisy, 20, Petal, 14, Buddy, 12, and River, seven.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Dorothy Chiles

Great-grandmother, 87, pictured for first time after deadly train station attack, as woman in her 20s arrested

President Donald Trump speaks on Wednesday night

Trump makes plans to meet Putin and end Ukraine war as he says 'the US wants its money back'

Exclusive
Katie Amess has spoken out about the need for an inquiry into her father's murder by an Islamist terrorist

Daughter of Sir David Amess, MP murdered by Islamist terrorist, ‘made to sign NDA’ on report into father’s death

Exclusive
Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Italian F1 Grand Prix - Previews

Nightclub bouncer behind £12m plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets jailed

Josef Fritzl

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could walk free from prison next year - and expects 'cheering crowds' to greet him

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver supports an extension to term times

'Time to think about school holidays': Ofsted's Chief Inspector supports extending term times

Exclusive
Angela Rayner insisted that British support for Ukraine was 'unwavering'

Rayner insists UK support for Ukraine 'unwavering' despite Trump's plan for 'immediate' peace talks with Putin

Prince William, President of BAFTA, operates a film camera as he visits the London Screen Academy in London, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

William tries his hand at being a cameraman on visit to London film academy

President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the G20 Japan Summit Friday, June 28, 2019, in Osaka, Japan.

Trump and Putin 'to meet in Saudi Arabia' and 'start negotiations immediately' to end war in Ukraine

Street scene in Peckham, London, with red bus

Bus driver, 76, found guilty of killing passenger who was run over while attempting to board vehicle

Norward Road, Lambeth, the proposed LTN.

Council staff given 'wellbeing day' after attending 'stormy' neighbourhood meeting

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb.

Ukraine's NATO membership plans 'unrealistic' says US - as defence secretary claims US troops won't be peacekeepers

Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire

Officer accused of pinning down and trying to kiss soldier, 19, had been 'waiting for moment for them to be alone'

A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks'

Public inquiry into Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks', PM tells victims' families

Paul Allen.

Cagefighter guilty of Britain's largest cash robbery shot in neck in his kitchen in murder plot