Jennifer Aniston previously gave a sweet birthday surprise to her then-husband, Brad Pitt, when he turned 40.
Chef Jamie Oliver recalled his get-together with Aniston in the early 2000s during an episode of the Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie radio show, which aired on July 31. During the interview, he revealed how he’s previously cooked for celebrities, including Pitt.
“I actually was Brad Pitt’s 40th birthday present from Jen,” he revealed. “She phoned up, and we put the phone down on her three times because we didn’t believe it was her. We thought it was someone trying it on. So she had to go through her agent to my agent, but I didn’t really have an agent, so it took a bit of a while.”
Oliver – who previously hosted popular British cooking show The Naked Chef – continued to reflect on his conversation with the Friends alum, noting that Pitt was a big fan of his work.
“She said: ‘Would you cook for Brad?’” he explained. “He’s well into The Naked Chef and all that business, like he watches it on TV and all that. I said: ‘Absolutely, and I’ll do it for love, because I love you guys.’”
He explained how he took two members of his then-small team to cook for the former couple, sharing that Pitt’s co-star from Fight Club, Ed Norton, and Aniston’s co-star from Friends, Courtney Cox, was at the birthday celebration.
While Oliver acknowledged that he doesn’t necessarily make it a habit to “purposefully cook for celebrities,” he made an exception for Pitt. The chef also shared that he still keeps in touch with the former couple.
“[I] only do it if I’m working in the restaurant and they’re in, or if I’m asked by someone I love or admire which was the case with Jen and Brad,” he explained. “It was Brad’s 40th, so I’ve known him for 20 years now… They’re both beautiful people. I haven’t seen Brad for a while. I saw Jen a couple of weeks ago, and she’s everything you would want her to be, and more.”
Back in 2014, Oliver’s wife – Jools – also opened up about attending Pitt’s 40th birthday celebration. During an interview with Red magazine, she confessed how nervous she was to talk to Cox and Aniston.
“Jamie was doing the dinner, so I had to sit and socialize with Brad and Rachel and Monica,” she said, referring to the celebrities’ characters in the ‘90s sitcom. “I was so embarrassed, I didn’t know what to say. Brad had just done Troy and was taking his top off to show me his abs. From that moment on I just kind of took a step back from it all, it was all too much.”
Aniston and Pitt were one of the most beloved couples in Hollywood, after they started dating in 1998. They officially tied the knot in 2000, before they announced their decision to split four years later.
However, Aniston has made it clear that since their split, she and her ex have stayed on good terms. During an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show in 2021, she opened up about her friendship with Pitt and the opportunity they had to work together again for a fundraising live table reading of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
“It was absolutely fun. Brad and I are buddies, we’re friends,” she said, noting that there’s no weirdness between them after the breakup as they still stay in contact.
“And we speak, and there’s no oddness at all, except for everyone that probably watched it and was wanting there to be, or assumed there to be,” the Morning Show star said.
