Chef Marco Pierre White has reignited a two-decade-old feud with Jamie Oliver, stating he refused to sign up for a new BBC show until Oliver was axed from the project. White, 64, made the remarks while promoting Gordon Ramsay's new BBC documentary, "Rise Of The Rockstar Chef," which also features Heston Blumenthal.
White claimed he boasted about getting Oliver removed from the three-part series, which is set to premiere soon. "Heston worked hard for his three stars. Gordon worked hard for his three stars. I worked hard for my three stars. How many stars did Jamie Oliver win?" White told Radio Times. "He's not part of our jigsaw."
Speaking on the "Spooning with Mark Wogan" podcast, White recounted being approached by producers for the show. "They interview Heston and they interview Jamie Oliver and then they come to me," he explained. "So they tell me it is going to be the four of us and four shows. I say no to it. So I said no. And then they rang me the next day and said, 'If we drop Jamie, will you do the show, Marco?' I said 'Fine'."
The rivalry between White and Oliver dates back to 2007 when White called Oliver a "fat chef with a drum kit." The feud resurfaced in 2019 when White labeled Oliver "delusional" for refusing to acknowledge the collapse of his restaurant chain. Oliver has largely remained silent on the matter, though he acknowledged last year that White "doesn't like me at all."
The new BBC series "The Rise Of The Rockstar Chef" documents the careers of White, Ramsay, and Blumenthal. Executive producer Amanda Westwood noted that securing the participation of all three chefs involved months of "conversations, cajoling and negotiating." Westwood admitted to being nervous about the reunion, given the chefs' history, particularly the 2003 incident at Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant, where a confrontation between White and Ramsay led to a dramatic fallout.
The documentary explores the intense culinary landscape of the 1990s and early 2000s, with Ramsay describing his time working under White as being part of "Marco's mafia." The series also touches upon White and Ramsay's contrasting recollections of an altercation that occurred when Ramsay left White's employ.
Despite their past rivalries, the producers emphasized that there was mutual respect and affection among the three chefs during the filming. "They are undoubtedly the only three chefs in the UK who can understand what they each have done and what it took to achieve such success," Westwood said. "There was a lot of love and affection in the room."