Jamie Oliver couldn’t believe his luck when he made a surprise discovery on eBay recently. The TV chef – who grew up living in The Cricketers pub in Essex – found an old photograph of his childhood home while browsing on the popular second-hand website, and he couldn’t resist buying it. Taking to Instagram Stories to share his find with his fans, Jamie posted a picture of his new purchase, and wrote: "Can't believe I found this. Bless eBay. My old house." Jamie grew up in the pub where he dreamed of becoming a chef as a little boy. The dad-of-five lived there with his parents Sally and Trevor – who still run it now, and his younger sister Anna-Marie.
While Jamie has always wanted to be a chef, it was recently revealed by his wife Jools Oliver that he once had a very different career - as a rock star! The Little Bird designer made the surprising revelation while appearing on Made by mammas podcast, when she was asked about how she met her now-husband by hosts Zoe Hardman and Georgia Dayton.
Jamie Oliver found his childhood home in photo form on eBay
She said: "When I first met him he was a drummer and that's what got me, rock star image you know! He was 17 or 18 and in a band, he invited me to a gig so I went along to some sweaty disgusting place and I went along to watch, and then we all got on the bus home and then that was it." Jools continued: "He was quite popular so I thought 'I want a piece of that', and he was very cool and the man about town. When I was 18 he asked me out on a date and then we had a courtship for a year and we have never separated since, never broken up."
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Jamie first found fame in 1997 after making his TV debut in the documentary Christmas at the River Café. The star has since gone on to open restaurant chains, release cook books, front his own television shows campaign for healthy eating to made easy and affordable for everyone. However, in the past few years, Jamie has had to close down 12 of his 37 UK branches of Jamie's Italian, something he has admitted to being a "dark time".
The TV chef lives in London with his five children and wife Jools
Talking to Woman's Weekly, he said: "Restaurant years are like dog years, so 10 years is a very long time. It’s been a dark time… there’s been not-so-nice darkness." However, Jamie also knows he is in a fortunate position and feels lucky that he enjoys his job so much. He told Guardian that he likes working with "nice people" as "having a laugh is a pretty good job to have".
MORE: How to recreate Jools and Jamie Oliver's incredible family home