Kitchen gets too hot for the naked chef

By LOUISA CLEAVE and NZPA

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is to quit TV cookery as he thinks viewers are tiring of him.

But his early retirement will not immediately leave New Zealand viewers hungry for more of him.

TVNZ has screened the first two series of The Naked Chef and TV One says it will air Oliver's third and final series later this year. The show regularly featured in the week's top 10 programmes.

Oliver visited New Zealand last May to promote his bestselling books, The Naked Chef and The Naked Chef Returns.

Oliver told the Express newspaper in England that the third series, accompanied by a book, would be his last. "I've had an amazing two-and-a-half years but I need to take some time off and step back from the spotlight a bit," he said. "I think people are getting sick of me."

Oliver, aged 26, has accumulated an estimated £1.5 million ($4.9 million) from his cookery shows and books.

He has done so well in the United States that the search is on there for British cooks, prompting one television channel to revive New Zealand chef Graham Kerr's Galloping Gourmet series.

In Britain, Oliver appears on an advertising campaign for the Sainsbury supermarket chain.

He told the newspaper he was putting a pop music career on hold after the first single by his band, Scarlet Division, reached only No 42 in the British charts.

"I feel that was partly my fault because there was a certain backlash against me," he said. "I don't think the public want me to become too successful at everything I do."

He said he was weary of others copying his laidback style, which often features family and friends in his London apartment.

"When I started the show it was really progressive and fresh, but now lots of TV chefs seem to be copying my style and the Naked Chef doesn't seem so special any more," he said.

"I want to take time out so I can come back with something really innovative and fresh."

Oliver intends to look at opening a London restaurant.