Andi Oliver Reveals Painful Past with Abusive Father

Andi Oliver has discussed her 'misogynistic' abusive father who 'became a terrible person' when she hit puberty.

The Great British Menu judge, 63, has opened up about how she was relieved when her father left during her childhood. 

'My dad broke parts of me and it's taken a long time to fix them,' Andi said as she revealed the way he spoke to her changed drastically as she became a teenager. 

Andi claimed her father's misogynistic ideology meant that despite doting on her as a young girl, he began to verbally berate her when her body changed during puberty.

Speaking to The i magazine, Andi said: 'He turned on me when I grew boobs. He became this terrible person, using really destructive, traumatising language about me. 

'It's taken a long time for me to fix the parts of me that he broke.'

Andi said her father was unpredictable and would switch from being kind and generous to angry on a dime. 

The chef and broadcaster even revealed her father - who served in the Royal Air Force - used to call her a 'wh**e'.

It comes just days after Andi opened up about the tough time she faced at school, recalling how she was 'the only black girl' and was .

Andi, who was born in London but spent part of her childhood in Cyprus, said that when she returned to England in the seventies, she found herself isolated and targeted by classmates.

Speaking to The Times in a new interview, she said: 'It was cold and dark, and I started having nightmares.

'I had a really tough time at school. I was the only black girl, and I was bullied and subjected to racism. 

The TV star, who first appeared on screen in the Nineties, said one of the most 'insidious' aspects of the bullying was that part of her felt as though it was her own fault.

She added that she 'internalised it for a long time' and kept the ordeal from her parents because she felt 'humiliated' and 'ashamed'.

Andi is best known for her appearances on the hit BBC cooking show, Great British Menu. 

She is also the author of the successful cookbook, The Pepperpot Diaries: Stories From My Caribbean Table, published in 2023. 

Andi was born in Paddington, London and was brought up in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, from the age of 10. Her mother taught at a primary school in Honington, Suffolk. 

She recently .

The Great British Menu host told Good Housekeeping that she isn't 'ashamed' to admit she used the skinny jab to help her shed the excess weight after she lost three stone with ' training and diet'.   

'I’ve lost five stone in four-and-a-half years; I lost the first three with Peloton training and diet, and the last two with Mounjaro,' Andi said.  

'The jab was brilliant for me – I can't recommend it enough, and I’m not ashamed of it.'

The TV chef added Mounjaro silenced the food noise as the 'cacophony' of "Shall I? Shan't I?" quietened, noting it was 'a magical, beautiful, liberating thing'.  

Wearing her signature, black-rimmed glasses, Andi cut a confident picture in tailored suits as she posed for the magazine's March issue alongside her daughter, Miquita Oliver. 

The cookbook author said the reason she was to try to dispel some of the stigma associated with it, as she admitted 'being overweight can be isolating'. 

She added that she stopped using the 'miracle' weight loss drug after six months because 'there's a limit to how skinny I want to be'.