Day: October 23, 2025

• Jamie Oliver says that a bit of “tension” is key to his 25-year marriage.
• Oliver first met his wife when they were teenagers. Now, they have five kids together.
• What matters most is “not to hold grudges, and to try to communicate as much as possible,” he said.

Jamie Oliver‘s secret to 25 years of marriage? A whole lot of love with just a dash of tension.

“I wouldn’t be the first to say opposites attract,” the celebrity chef told Good Housekeeping in an interview published on Tuesday. “We get on very well and we genuinely like each other, but we’re also very different. That can create a certain tension, but it also seems to work, and I feel very blessed to have had 25 years.”

Oliver first met his wife, Juliette “Jools” Norton, when they were teenagers. The couple married in 2000 and shares five kids.

But even after all this time together, Oliver says marriage takes work, and they’re “just wrestling through like anyone else.”

What matters most is “not to hold grudges, and to try to communicate as much as possible,” he said.

Oliver added that “sometimes it doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong” because, ultimately, he just wants his wife to be happy.

In a 2021 appearance on the “12 Questions” podcast, Oliver said his wife, daughters — and the women he works with — help keep his ego in check.

“And they don’t sit there telling me how great I am all day, let’s just put it that way. They keep me in check, as well as my wife. And now my daughters,” Oliver said.

Speaking to People in April, Oliver credited his wife for holding down the fort at home.

“I think it hasn’t been easy, and we’ve had a few bumps here and there, but on the whole, so far, so good. And probably most of that credit should go to Jools, but I’d like to think I’m a good dad,” Oliver said.

A representative for Oliver did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

Oliver isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken about the ways they maintain strong relationships with their spouses.

Rob Lowe, who has been married to Sheryl Berkoff for over 30 years, said he goes to couples therapy with her regularly because “it’s like taking your car in and making sure the engine’s running great.”

Kelsey Grammar said thinking of love as a “contact sport” is the key to his 14-year marriage to his wife, Kayte Walsh.

“Once in a while, you got to back it up with some action,” Grammar said.

• Hoteliers said they’re bleeding cash because of the government shutdown.
• A major hotel trade group said the industry has lost $650 million to date because of the shutdown.
• It has become the second-longest shutdown in US history.

US hotel operators said they are losing millions of dollars because of the government shutdown ahead of their busiest season of the year.

In a Wednesday press release, the American Hotel and Lodging Association said that the shutdown has cost the hotel industry about $650 million to date and has had a “devastating impact” on the travel and hospitality sectors. Business Insider could not independently verify this figure.

“Economic uncertainty and waning consumer confidence are translating into booking cancellations and discouraging future planning, especially as we head into the heart of the holiday travel season,” the association’s president and CEO, Rosanna Maietta, said in the press release.

“These essential industries fuel our economy, and we need our leaders in Washington to come together now and vote to reopen the government as soon as possible,” she added.

The association sent an email to House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging them to end the government shutdown.

The letter was signed by 30 hospitality associations country-wide, including the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the Latino Hotel Association, and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators, and Developers. The associations covered properties in at least 28 states and Puerto Rico.

The letter comes more than three weeks into the government shutdown, which started on October 1 after Republican and Democratic lawmakers failed to agree on the government budget.

The shutdown, which has become the second-longest in US history, has had wide-reaching consequences. It’s affected everything from National Parks and the US Postal Service to airport operations. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed, while some staff have had to work without pay.

Schumer and Jeffries released a joint statement on October 1 commenting on the shutdown, saying President Donald Trump and the Republican Party had shut down the government because they do not wish to protect the healthcare of the American people.

The senators said in the statement that Democrats remain ready to work to find a bipartisan path forward, but they “need a credible partner.”

Airlines for America, a trade group representing United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, also urged government leaders to end the shutdown in a press release on October 1.

The group said in the release that furloughing federal employees who manage air traffic would strain the aviation industry.

Representatives for AHLA, Johnson, Jeffries, Schumer, and Thune did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.