Jamie Oliver slams 'shouting, swearing' chefs

Jamie Oliver slams 'shouting, swearing' chefs
Jamie Oliver slams 'shouting, swearing' chefs (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Jamie Oliver has hit out at chefs who use foul language, despite coming under fire for swearing on-screen himself. The Naked Chef, 36, previously sparked viewers' complaints after swearing more than 20 times during an episode of Ministry Of Food, in which he dished out healthy cooking advice to the residents of Rotherham. But, while not naming Gordon Ramsay, who is known for losing his temper and uttering profanities, Jamie said: "I don't like chefs that go round shouting and swearing. "If they treated my students like that they'd get pans round their heads. You can't do it." He told the Radio Times: "Working with kids who have had a difficult time, you can't bully them, because that's all they've ever had. You've got to make it as fun as possible." Jamie has previously been quoted as saying that he does not swear on his cookery programmes because it is 'not appropriate', but that on his documentaries he is wearing his heart on his sleeve. But after the complaints in 2009, he said: "I'll have to make an effort not to swear, or hope that the production company covers my a*** and edits out all that naughty swearing." The star also told the Radio Times he believed chefs in the past had been given too much respect. He said of the start of his career: "Back then, a lot of my counterparts on TV were in chef whites. We respected them way too much - the way we respected doctors or nurses. "And that made the information (they were imparting) more exclusive."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.