Jamie Oliver admits to quietly battling 'really dangerous' health issue in candid update

Jamie Oliver has opened up about a "really dangerous" health issue he has been quietly battling. The TV chef rose to fame in the early noughties when he launched The Naked Chef on BBC Two. But his career skyrocketed 20 years ago with Jamie's School Dinners - a series which highlighted the state of school meals across the UK.

Since then, he has gone on to host a range of cooking shows on TV and even became Britain's second-best-selling author behind Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. After celebrating his 50th birthday, Jamie has decided to write a healthy cookbook. He started noticing the "cliche aches and pains" that come with growing older.

Since his milestone birthday, the culinary expert has come to see his body "as an engine" rather than something that "works unconditionally" for you. The chef admits that he has also developed a problematic relationship with sleep.

Speaking to The Times, he said: "I have had the worst relationship with sleep. I am at the end of a decade of only three or four hours of sleep a night and it's really dangerous. I will fix it this year, but three times a week I wake up at 4.30am and don't finish until 9pm. It's too much."

As well as issues with his sleep, the dad-of-five revealed he has suffered from a slipped disc in his back. He describes the problem, along with his other aches and pains, as "old-people stuff".

Although he is known for tackling the nation's unhealthy eating habits, Jamie also concedes that "being greedy" has been his unhealthiest habit throughout his life. Jamie insisted that he has always had a "varied diet" but admits that being greedy has been his "biggest problem."

It comes after the renowned British chef gave a rare glimpse into his family life and confessed to having "a temper". In a recent chat with The Observer magazine, Jamie discussed his home life with his wife, Juliette, and their five children, Poppy, Daisy, Petal, Buddy, and River.

Reflecting on fatherhood, the doting dad admitted that he "never thought" he'd have five kids, but had a "feeling" that his wife did. While the prospect of having so many children was initially unexpected, he stated that "beign a father of five is an amazing privilege", albeit "also chaotic and exhausting".

Sharing an insight into how he usually conducts himself, he said: "Typically, I'm very patient, but I do have a temper, and it's probably not a pretty sight."