Rick Stein ‘nearly killed’ ex-wife in crash at Oxford University

The TV cook, now best known for his seafood restaurants and BBC travel series, grew up on a farm in Churchill, a small village just outside the market town of Chipping Norton.

Mr Stein later went on to study English at Oxford, further strengthening his ties to Oxfordshire alongside his upbringing in the Cotswolds.

During his time as a student, he maintained a long‑term relationship with Jill Stein, who would go on to co‑found and run the business side of his restaurant empire.

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The Cotswolds village of Churchill, in Oxfordshire (Image: Wikimedia Commons / Philip Halling)

The couple later married, remained together for many years while building their businesses, and eventually divorced after their relationship broke down.

In a recent interview with The Times, the 76-year-old revisited a near‑fatal incident in Oxford which she says has left her with permanent hearing loss.

She had moved to London while Mr Stein was at Oxford, and had arranged to meet him in Oxford for a weekend.

Ms Stein discovered that he was instead drinking at a student club and confronted him when he eventually arrived at the pub where she was waiting.

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Jack Stein, Jill Stein, Charlie Stein, Rick Stein, and Edward Stein. (Image: Newsquest)

He recalled in the book that he reacted “angrily but also very lustfully”, but remembering that night, Ms Stein told The Times: “He did nearly kill me.”

Driving fast on the Oxford bypass, Mr Stein crashed into roadworks and hit a 44‑gallon drum, sending an oil lamp through the windscreen and into her head.

Ms Stein said: “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.”

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The crash occurred while Rick Stein was studying at Oxford University. (Image: Murray Bosley)

At the John Radcliffe Hospital, a brain surgeon operated on her, and during her interview with The Times, Ms Stein pointed to her left side and added: “And that’s why I can’t hear in this ear.”

Asked how long it took her to forgive him, she reflected: “I never blamed him really. I don’t know why, but I didn’t.”

Mr Stein later began a relationship with Sarah Burns, a publicist who had worked with his company, while he was still married to Jill Stein.

The affair eventually led to the end of his first marriage, and he went on to marry his second wife in 2011, with the couple now living between Australia and the UK.