Jill Stein has revealed how a terrifying moment during her relationship with Rick Stein changed her life forever
The former wife of celebrity chef Rick Stein has revealed she was left with a permanent health problem after an accident in their youth in which he “did nearly kill” her.
Jill Stein, who was married to Rick for 32 years before their divorce in 2007, spoke candidly about the crash that happened while the pair were still young and building a life together. Despite the end of their marriage, the former couple remain business partners and continue to share a professional connection through the restaurant empire they founded.
Jill, who co-founded The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow with Rick, spoke to The Times about their early years in Cornwall and the roles they played in transforming a small venture into one of Britain’s best-known hospitality businesses.
“They didn’t really know what Rick looked like because he was always in the kitchen,” she told The Times. “I was the front of house, so all the customers knew me and Marie, the local girl who worked for us. The two of us did it together. Once he got on TV, then of course the whole thing changed.”
The couple first met in Cornwall in 1968 after Jill, who disliked school and left at 15, moved there to work at a guesthouse. Rick, whose family holidayed in the area, crossed paths with her after looking for guests for a gathering.
“He was looking for people to invite to a party and we just happened to be in the pub,” she says.
Their relationship was not straightforward at first, but they reunited and built a future together while Rick studied English at Oxford. It was during that period that a late-night journey ended in disaster.
Jill said the crash happened after Rick picked her up in Oxford following a disagreement when she had been waiting for him and instead found he had been drinking at a student club. Driving on the bypass, he crashed into roadworks and an oil lamp smashed through the windscreen.
“He did nearly kill me. He could see that I was bleeding quite a lot and I said, ‘Oh, just put me to bed. I’ll be fine.’ And he thought, even though he was drunk, no, I’m not sure about this. I think I’ll ring the ambulance. So he rang the ambulance and, because it was a 999 call, the police came along as well and they breathalysed him.”
Jill was taken to hospital where emergency surgery saved her life, though she says lasting damage remained.
“And that’s why I can’t hear in this ear,” she says, pointing to her left side.
Asked how long it took her to forgive him, Jill suggested resentment never took hold.
“I never blamed him really. I don’t know why, but I didn’t.”
The accident came at a turbulent time for Rick, who later described spiralling into depression linked to the crash, anxiety around university finals, grief connected to his father’s suicide when he was 17 and a growing fear of death.
The pair would go on to marry and raise three sons while growing a hospitality business synonymous with Cornwall. Although their marriage ended after more than three decades, following Rick’s long relationship with Australian publicist Sarah Burns, Jill remained closely involved in the business they built together and continues to share credit on projects, including their latest cookbook.
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