revealed he was once pinned against a wall by a disgruntled fan in the first two years of his TV career.
The TV chef launched to fame in 1999 at the age of 26 with his first TV show The Naked Chef which focused on simple, fresh recipes.
The dad-of-five, now 50, quickly went on to become a household name following the success of his BBC Two show for his cheeky sense of humour and bubbly personality.
Since then, the culinary expert has gone on to launch a successful healthy school meals campaign and was even made an OBE in 2003 for his services to the hospitality industry.
Now, the TV star has opened up about the difficult time he had adjusting to fame in the early noughties. During an appearance on , he explained that he was often subjected to abuse from annoyed viewers in the street.
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The Naked Chef December 1999 Jamie Oliver sitting on table blue denims star motif on jumper (Image: BBC Two)
He told the journalist: “The first year and a half of The Naked Chef was quite tough for me because I got a lot of verbal abuse from men, you know, all sorts.
“Imagine going past a building and hearing, ‘You f***ing w***er, a**hole. You pukka nut little s**t c**t’.” It was at this point that Louis asked why he received such backlash.
Jamie explained: “Because their girlfriends or wives were going, ‘Excuse me, we’re both doing a ten-hour day, we’re both knackered. Why don’t you get your a** into the kitchen like this bloke on the telly?
“‘Like this little foetus running around with a pair of lips, and yeah, he’s quite cute actually’. So that was quite a lot of grief.”
The cook went on to reveal that he was even chased down by one viewer after he was forced to start cooking meals for the household three times a week.
He went on: “I did get chased once just coming out of Covent Garden tube station, and I ran about 300 metres and he’d got me in a corner.
“He pinned me up against the wall and I thought, ‘F**k, he’s going to punch me now’ and he goes, ‘Thanks to you, I have to cook three times a week’.”
Jamie admitted that at first he wanted to ask how he found his new skill but quickly thought better of it. The doting dad continued: “And I thought, ‘Oh s**t’ and I was gonna say, ‘And how is it? What’s the seasoning like?’
“But his face went from pure aggression – and he was built like a brick s**thouse as well – and then he relaxed and goes, ‘And actually I’m really good at it. I’m actually better than you’. And then walked off and I went, ‘Oohh’.”