Marco Pierre White blasts Remoaner Jamie Oliver for Brexit blame ‘Admit you f***** up!’

The former Naked Chef made the extraordinary Brexit claim after around 1,000 jobs were axed when all 25 outlets of Jamie’s Italian, Barbecoa and Fifteen collapsed around three months ago. But celebrity chef Mr White said it was the “lamest excuse in the world”.

He told BirminghamLive: “I have read Jamie is blaming his business failure on Brexit but I really don’t understand that at all.

“Wouldn’t that mean then all restaurants have gone bust too?

“I don’t think he can blame Brexit. It’s the lamest excuse in the world. I think it is wrong to blame Brexit. We’re all in the same boat. If it’s Brexit’s fault we’d all be bust.

“How can you blame everyone but yourself? Is he delusional?”

Remainer Mr Oliver sparked outrage earlier this week when he claimed people had been eating out less since the 2016 referendum result.

Speaking in BBC Radio 4’s new programme, Jamie Oliver A Life Through Food, the celebrity chef said: “The world changed, the high street changed, it started to become uberfied, our competitors changed, and we looked less different to them as we did in the beginning.

“Then, when there’s that chain reaction, throw a bit of Brexit in, say the B word, confidence goes and people’s habits changed.”

But speaking at his Steakhouse Bar & Grill at The Cube in Birmingham, Mr White urged his fellow chef to “put his hand up and say ‘I f***** up’”. 

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He said: “I’ve been reading Jamie explaining why he had to close his restaurants and the one thing I don’t get, is he did nothing wrong?

“Wouldn’t you be putting your hand up and saying ‘I f****d up’?

“Jamie’s blaming everybody, blaming the landlords - but when he took on the sites, he knew what the business rates on those sites were.

“That should have been factored into his model.”

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Mr White revealed he had dined at Mr Oliver’s restaurant in Gatwick Airport twice and described the experience as “horrific” due to long waiting times.

Mr White was not the only person to attack Mr Oliver. 

Conservative MP James Cleverly lashed out on Twitter claiming the demise of his restaurant chain was down to the poor quality and presentation of food.

He said: “This isn’t about Brexit, I recently eat at a Jamie’s restaurant and the quality of the food just didn’t match the price.

“The staff were friendly but the presentation was poor and the food was bland.”

Earlier this year, the mid-range dining chain Jamie’s Italian went into administration.

It was founded by Mr Oliver, 44, in 2008 in partnership with fellow chef and mentor Gennaro Contaldo and at its peak it had more than 40 branches.

Now only his three outlets at Gatwick airport remain in operation as administrators seek a buyer.

In 2017 the father-of-five, who lives in a £6million 16th century Essex mansion, ploughed £12.7million of his own savings into the struggling business after he received a phone call telling him he had two hours to rescue the company.

Mr Oliver, who is worth an estimated £240 million, made an emergency cash injection of £7.5 million to keep the flailing business afloat, followed by a further £5.2 million over the following months however it was deemed to require further investment.

He said he was “devastated” and “deeply saddened by the outcome” in a statement.