Jamie Oliver has told how he saved the life of a young chef by paying off a £2,000 drugs debt.
The telly cook handed over the cash to rescue a trainee who was being threatened by a dealer.
READ MORE: Jamie Oliver married wife of 23 years for second time in Maldives with their five kids
The youngster was working at Oliver’s former restaurant Fifteen, which trained underprivileged teens in hospitality from 2002 to 2019.
He said the scheme was “the best thing I’ve done, and it put hope in my blood”.
The Naked Chef added: “Can you take children of crime, flip the statistics and make 85% of them thrive, have a job and pay tax?
(Image: South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
“One of those kids, I put two grand in an envelope and paid off a drug dealer under a bridge to get a death threat off him. I mean, how do you put that through the books?”
Fifteen was responsible for training hundreds of youngsters who went onto find work but it also had its tragedies including two suicides.
In 2010, one of Oliver’s trainees was jailed for a £1million jewellery robbery. And in 2020 another was caged for dealing drugs.
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Dad-of-five Jamie – who has been with wife Jools since they met at 17 – also revealed he is struggling with parenthood as his kids get older.
He admitted: “I found the first 12 years easy and I was enthusiastic. But that didn’t prepare me enough for a 14-year-old. When they get to 14, they are embarrassed about me.”
Earlier this year Jamie celebrated 23 years with his wife by tying the knot once again and renewed their vows “before the kids left the nest”.
Sharing snaps of their Maldives wedding on Instagram, he was joined by his wife in a stunning wedding dress while the pair both walked along the beach bare-foot.
Speaking of their first wedding, Jamie wrote:” It seems like a blink since the first wedding which we kept very private,” before adding that the Maldives destination was a “dream” for the pair.
The pair originally tied the knot on June 24, 2000.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
