Jamie on not sounding like a nob

Interesting interview with Jamie Oliver in the Observer, including the revelation that he's now worth a stonking £225 million. No interview with Oliver can occur without a mention of Essex, of course. Writer Carole Cadwalladr describes him as, "recognisably still the fresh-faced, mop-topped Essex boy with a lisp and a habit of babbling words" and that in the US "even Oliver's cheery Essex boy charm couldn't make much headway. There's also a recognisably Essex sentiment from Oliver himself: "He's also, as he tells me later, 'a very strange brand, a celebrity disruptive force'. Though moments later, he says: 'It's a really weird thing to try to convey without sounding like a nob'." And perhaps that is part of Oliver's success. Money is ok is Essex but it's also very important to be down to earth and even when trying to change the nation's diet, not sound like nob. There's a lesson for us all there.