Jamie Oliver Admits That He is a “Weekend Dad”

April 25, 2010 by tiffanyb
Filed under: Celebrity Baby News

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who is expecting his fourth child later this year, reveals that he is a “weekend dad” and but still has a “good relationship” with his kids.

Jamie Oliver has a lot on his plate. Not only does he have three young daughter at home, Poppy, 8, Daisy, 7, and Petal, 1, his wife Jools is expecting the couple’s fourth child in September. But Jamie’s professional life is just as busy. He has a magazine, a new television show in the United States, cookbooks, cookware, and he’s lobbying in both England and the U.S. for healthier food for kids.

Jamie can’t do everything at once and can’t be in two places at the same time. The chef reveals, “I have my six weeks’ holiday a year. Many dads reading this might say they’re better or worse than me. I’m not saying I’m the perfect dad. Do I squeeze in a lot? Yeah. Do they see me to tuck them up at night, Monday to Friday? No. But I do think I’ve got a good relationship with my kids. I don’t think I’ve got delinquent kids who don’t know who their dad is. They know I’m all over the place like a rash. When they get a bit older, I’ll take them with me.”

Oliver does admit that he is conflicted about the time he spends away from his kids but feels he now has a responsibility to follow through with his “Revolution” of people’s diets.

When asked if his cause would ever pursuade him to move overseas to the U.S. Jamie replied, “If I did, it would be because it had gone off in an epic way over there - and you’d never want to refuse that - and that more could be achieved here because I was working there. One can only wish for that scenario to come across. But ultimately, I am very British, my heart’s here, all my personal and business life is here. All my creative juices rest here. I’ve got three baby girls and a wife here. I wouldn’t move. I wouldn’t rule out going over there for a block of a couple of months…. I do what I do because I feel a sense of urgency. In some respects it’s got nothing at all to do with me. Certainly I’ve got no place going over to America to do it, but I’m doing it. Why, when my wife and kids would rather I was at home? I just genuinely believe that it’s an incredibly interesting moment in time. In a hundred years people like you will look back and say, “It was all going pear-shaped then. Who was doing anything about it? No one.”‘

So, is Jamie hoping for a son this time around? He jokes, “It’s bound to be four girls. Everybody seems more excited about us having a boy than I am. I’ll be happy to have either.”