{"id":468190,"date":"2026-03-10T18:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468190\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:13:08","slug":"how-i-shop-with-andi-oliver-im-not-spending-50-on-bloody-smelly-candles-celebrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/468190\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Shop with Andi Oliver: \u2018I\u2019m not spending \u00a350 on bloody smelly candles!\u2019 | Celebrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andi Oliver rose to fame fronting the band Rip Rig + Panic with Neneh Cherry in 1981 and working in TV in the 90s. She was a judge on Great British Menu for four series, and is now in her sixth season as host. She also regularly appears on BBC Radio 4\u2019s The Kitchen Cabinet and the Food<\/a> Programme.<\/p>\n

The Guardian\u2019s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.\u00a0Learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andi acts, has run several restaurants and presented documentaries, including two with her daughter Miquita. She published a cookbook, The Pepperpot Diaries<\/a>, in 2023.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the last treat that you bought for yourself?<\/p>\n

I went to Sri Lanka in January. That was a treat. Every year, I work really, really hard, but I go on a proper holiday in January. It\u2019s fuel for the year ahead. I power all my batteries down completely, just relax, lie down, read a ton of books. Then when I get back, I\u2019m ready to rock\u2019n\u2019roll again.<\/p>\n

Where do you buy your food from?<\/p>\n

I live in Wanstead, east London, and we\u2019ve got a proper high street, almost like a little village. There\u2019s a butcher, a really great fishmonger and a wonderful greengrocer. I love it so much. And I also have a food delivery from Ocado, because they\u2019ve got everything.<\/p>\n

Wanstead High Street has a trove of food shops, including Harveys green grocers. Photograph: PAL Stock\/AlamyShop Ocado<\/a>What\u2019s the best present you\u2019ve given?<\/p>\n

I think the holiday I buy for my family every year is a really great present. I do a couple of jobs that I wouldn\u2019t necessarily normally do, so that we can go and have a fancy holiday and an absolutely lovely time. I think actually the best present you can give each other is time. And I know that some people would be like, \u201cNo, absolutely not, shoes!\u201d I just think those things are sort of dispensable.<\/p>\n

I also bought my friend Nick and his husband a weekend at Paul Ainsworth\u2019s amazing restaurant, No6 in Cornwall, Padstow, and a tasting menu. I never used to have any money at all, so it\u2019s really nice being able to buy people things that you know they\u2019re really going to love. I take great pleasure in doing it.<\/p>\n

Paul Ainsworth at No6 in the heart of Padstow. Photograph: Julian Eales\/Alamy\u2026 and the best present you\u2019ve received?<\/p>\n

My daughter bought me a pair of diamond earrings last year, which I haven\u2019t worn because I\u2019m scared I\u2019m gonna lose them. And one of my best friends bought me a diamond nose stud, but I\u2019m also not wearing that yet.<\/p>\n

Last year, Garfield, my partner, and my daughter bought me a first edition, signed copy of Beloved by Toni Morrison \u2013 that brought a tear to my eye.<\/p>\n

Beloved by Toni Morrison<\/p>\n

\u00a39.99 at the Guardian Bookshop<\/a>What\u2019s your favourite online store?<\/p>\n

Oh, God, me and my online shopping. I\u2019m a nightmare. I buy really nice dresses from Karen Millen. They do quite glamorous stuff, whatever size you are, and everyday things. There\u2019s also an African designer called \u00d6fuur\u00eb, and they have the most fabulous clothes. I recently lost quite a lot of weight, so I\u2019m trying to stop myself from buying tons of clothes all the time, but it\u2019s quite hard. I grew up in Soho with tons of drag queens, in the 80s and the 90s \u2013 we had a ball. Everybody was just very extravagant and completely of themselves. I\u2019ve never really lost that excitement \u2013 I love getting dressed up.<\/p>\n

Thigh-high split fringed midi dress<\/p>\n

\u00a3235 at Karen Millen<\/a><\/p>\n

Gemma earrings<\/p>\n

\u00a331 at \u00d6fuur\u00eb<\/a>What\u2019s your favourite bricks-and-mortar shop?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to sound so poncey, but I love Fortnum & Mason. Every single time you go in there, even if you get something really tiny, it feels like a treat. And you get that gorgeous little eau de nil colour bag. You buy like four chocolates in there and feel like a princess. It makes me feel special, and treated, and fabulous. I know some things are quite pricey, but you can also spend \u00a310 in there.<\/p>\n

That coveted Fortnum & Mason bag. Photograph: Bloomberg\/Getty ImagesShop Fortnum & Mason<\/a>What\u2019s the gadget you use most often?<\/p>\n

My Ninja food processor. I make a thing called green seasoning every week, which is like a big garlic, herby, delicious kind of paste that I use in nearly every single dish I make. I just make big jars of it and put it in the freezer. Because I use food processors so much, they die, and the Ninja\u2019s the only one that doesn\u2019t die on me.<\/p>\n

Ninja 3-in-1 food processor<\/p>\n

\u00a3148 at John Lewis<\/a>\u00a3199.99 at Ninja<\/a>What\u2019s the purchase you regret the most?<\/p>\n

I do sleep shopping! I\u2019m pretty menopausal, so I take sleeping pills. When I\u2019m half falling asleep and lying in bed on my phone, I scroll and shop. I don\u2019t even remember that I\u2019ve done it. And then weird things turn up. I\u2019m like, what the hell is that? I bought a weird Tory wife outfit \u2026 Awful! I really need to stop it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the thing\/s you get delivered?<\/p>\n

Oh, God, everything. I get my hard goods, like dishwasher tablets and that sort of thing, because I can\u2019t be bothered to lug them around. Clothes. And books. I do like to physically go to a bookshop, because I love a bookshop, but I do also get them delivered. I get Audible as well, so I get them downloaded into my phone. But I like going shopping \u2013 I like physically to go and have a shop about.<\/p>\n

Audible is ideal for reading on the run. Photograph: picsmart\/AlamyWhere do you buy your underwear?<\/p>\n

M&S, M&S, M&S! I love it. Proper knickers, good bra, and you can get little crop-top bra things, or a really great underwired, serviceable daily bra, or something lacy and delightful.<\/p>\n

Non-wired crop top<\/p>\n

\u00a322 at M&S<\/a>What would you buy with \u00a320 \u2013 and \u00a3200?<\/p>\n

If I had \u00a320, I\u2019d probably go to the fishmonger. At Christmas, I bought this really nice halibut, which was more than \u00a320 actually, but it was really, really beautiful. I love really good fish.<\/p>\n

If I had \u00a3200 \u2026 I do like a really good coat. I bought myself an incredibly expensive Max Mara coat a couple of years ago \u2013 it was four and a half thousand pounds. I\u2019m not great at spending money on myself, so I had to have a WhatsApp group to allow me to buy it. Everybody was going, \u201cGo on, do it!\u201d It took me a week [to decide]. It makes you feel like a million dollars, because it cost about a million dollars! But for \u00a3200, you could get yourself a pretty good coat. In fact, I bought a great Topshop coat online for \u00a3130 \u2013 a giant green shaggy fur coat that I really am rather fond of.<\/p>\n

Ludmilla tobacco coat<\/p>\n

\u00a34,455 at Net-a-Porter<\/a>\u00a34,460 at Max Mara<\/a><\/p>\n

Faux fur green coat<\/p>\n

\u00a3126 at Topshop<\/a>\u00a3126 at Asos<\/a>What\u2019s your saved search on eBay\/Vinted?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not on either thing. I bought a sofa once on eBay about 15 years ago. And I only went on Vinted for the first time about a week ago, and I couldn\u2019t quite work it out. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll get my head around it.<\/p>\n

[But] if I had a save, it would probably be standing lamps. It\u2019s quite hard to find nice ones. I also love really good, lovely rugs, and they\u2019re so expensive. I\u2019m sure Vinted will show me the way into rugs.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s excellent lighting to be found on eBay. Photograph: Edwin Tan\/Getty ImagesShop lighting on eBay<\/a>What item do you buy on repeat?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve developed an addiction to Ombar vegan chocolate. They\u2019ve come out with this blond caramelised white chocolate. I literally eat half a bar every day \u2013 I\u2019m totally addicted to it. The other day, they\u2019d run out of it on Ocado, but they had it in Easter egg form, so I bought two Easter eggs. I\u2019m like, OK, you\u2019re gonna have to calm down. I\u2019ve got braces on my teeth at the moment, so I can\u2019t really eat loads of things. But I can eat that.<\/p>\n

Ombar blond caramelised white choco bar<\/p>\n

\u00a32.75 at Morrisons<\/a>\u00a32.90 at Ocado<\/a>How do you make your coffee at home?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t have coffee any more, which is deeply upsetting to me, because it just makes me really ill. But I\u2019ve discovered how to make this really nice drink.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t normally like matcha because it\u2019s a bit bitter. Then I went to Ibiza and this woman made me matcha with Valencian orange extract in it, and pistachio, and made this delicious frothy, icy, vanillary drink. And I\u2019ve worked out how to make it hot. You can get green pistachio oat milk, and matcha pods for the coffee machine. And I\u2019ve got a milk frother. So it\u2019s a pistachio latte, darling.<\/p>\n

Valencian orange extract<\/p>\n

\u00a32 at Waitrose<\/a><\/p>\n

Perfect Ted matcha Nespresso compatible capsules<\/p>\n

\u00a33.88 for 10 at Waitrose<\/a>\u00a316.99 for 30 at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Rude Health pistachio milk<\/p>\n

\u00a33.95 at Abel & Cole<\/a>\u00a33.95 at Ocado<\/a>What\u2019s your biggest spurge?<\/p>\n

My incredible friend, TV producer Stuart Prebble, passed away last year. He was an extraordinary man, and I was the officiator of his celebration of life ceremony. I went to [designer] Gabriela Hearst and got this beautiful suit that cost me about the same as that coat. It\u2019s absolutely beautiful. It just hangs in the most incredible way. It\u2019s got this little gold belt. It needed to be like that for Stuart because he was a royal human being. So I don\u2019t regret that at all.<\/p>\n

Epona chain blazer<\/p>\n

\u00a32,900 at Gabriela Hearst<\/a>And what everyday item do you scrimp on?<\/p>\n

Stuff like kitchen roll. There\u2019s a pound shop down on the corner, and I tend to bulk buy. And I love a nice candle \u2013 Ortigia sells these gorgeous ones \u2013 but I\u2019m not spending \u00a350 on bloody smelly candles. So I buy cheap facsimiles of them. They\u2019re never as good, and it\u2019s a waste. It\u2019s actually a false economy because they\u2019re kind of shit.<\/p>\n

Ambra Nera Alabaster candle<\/p>\n

\u00a394.60 at 50ml<\/a>\u00a3110 at Ortigia<\/a>What\u2019s your greatest vintage find?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a friend called Zoe Bedeaux, who is an extraordinary woman. Every year, she has a sale at her home, and she has the most incredible furniture, throws \u2026 Last year, I got an extraordinary vintage Yves Saint Laurent cloak. It\u2019s grey with this amazing tassel that comes off the hood. I got some incredible Terry de Havilland shoes as well \u2013 what a man.<\/p>\n

Vintage Terry De Havilland shoes<\/p>\n

\u00a3405 at Etsy<\/a><\/p>\n

For more, read How I Shop with Patrick Grant<\/a> and How I Shop with Nussaibah Younis<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t buy anything until you\u2019ve read the Filter, the Guardian\u2019s home for truly independent product reviews and recommendations. Whether you\u2019re after rigorous tests or shopping inspo, affordable gifts or advice on how to make your belongings last longer, we\u2019re here to help you make smarter, more sustainable choices.<\/p>\n

The Filter is packed with trustworthy buying advice on everything from coffee machines to hiking boots, mascara to secateurs. So visit us today and start buying better and smarter, and wasting less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andi Oliver rose to fame fronting the band Rip Rig + Panic with Neneh Cherry in 1981 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-468190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}