Jamie Oliver has recalled an incident with pop singer Harry Styles, when the former One Direction singer was “frightened” at Oliver’s home.
The celebritiy chef delivered the anecdote during an appearance on the BBC chat series The Graham Norton Show on Friday (6 December).
Host Graham Norton began by asking Oliver: “Harry Styles was frightened in your house, wasn’t he?”
“Sort of, yes,” he responded. The story in question took place “many years ago”, when the “Watermelon Sugar” artist was attempting to buy a home.
“ He was looking for a house, many years ago, and looked around our house, when we use to live in Primrose Hill,” Oliver recalled. “But he didn’t realise that my daughters were his biggest fans, and I had stolen a life-sized version of him [that was] in one of the rooms.
He continued: “I thought, ‘Well, fill your boots, have a look around, see if you like [the flat].’ And he went around, but obviously in the room that he went in with this big thing [the cardboard cutout’... we had the baby monitor, and we could see that he just [jumps back in surprise].”
The anecdote prompted laughter from Norton and the studio audience.
“He probably thought it was a mirror,” Oliver added. “The girls didn’t find out until he’d gone. Didn’t even get an autograph.”
Asked whether Styles then put in an offer to buy the house, Oliver laughed: “No, he wasn’t interested.”
The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One every Friday, and sees Irish comedian Norton interview a group of celebrity guests together on a single sofa.
Earlier this month, Oliver issued an apology after a children’s book written by him was pulled from sale, amid criticism from Indiginous Australians.
Titled Billy and the Epic Escape, the novel featured a plotline involving the kidnapping of a young Indiginous girl, and was accused of promoting stereotypes about First Nations Australians.
“I am devastated to hear I have caused offence and wholly apologise for doing so,” Oliver said at the time. “I am listening and reflecting and working closely with my publisher on next steps.”
In a subsequent statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offence and wanted to apologise “wholeheartedly”.
“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said. “Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
