Jamie Oliver has reportedly axed his brother-in-law boss, who was at the helm when his restaurant empire collapsed in 2019.
Paul Hunt, who became the CEO of the Jamie Oliver Group in 2014, is also married to the TV chef's sister Anna-Marie.
As the business went under, around 1,000 workers were laid off with only three of the restaurants remaining open.
An insider has now spoke out to claim that the Naked Chef was awaiting an opportune moment to "pull the trigger" in a bid to get shot of the man who oversaw the "disaster" that resulted in the restaurant chain crumble.
The famous cook is estimated to have suffered huge losses as a result of the Italian business failure, with claims indicating that Jamie needed to stump up a whopping £25million from his own pocket to fund the bail out.
A source told the Daily Mail: "Paul was very unpopular with Jamie's staff and had a reputation for being very full of himself.
"The inside story is that Jamie had to bide his time for a quiet patch and then pull the trigger.
"It will be awkward for the family as Paul and Anna-Marie used to be their neighbours and they still are very close, but the business situation was by all accounts a disaster."
However, a spokesperson for the Jamie Oliver Group shut down allegations that Jamie had done the firing, telling The Sun Online that the pair had "mutually agreed" that Paul would step down.
The representative explained: "Paul Hunt was appointed CEO in 2014 to stabilise and reposition the business – which he has done.
"He also successfully navigated the business through the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Following a strategic review, it was mutually agreed that the time is right to find a CEO with global brand and technology expertise to lead the business into the next phase of its evolution."
In 2008, the on-screen chef opened up his first Jamie's Italian, with the chain growing at a rapid rate, with 43 restaurants established across the UK by 2016.
Just three years later, the business crumbled leaving lots of members of staff jobless.
In 2018, just one year before the company went into liquidation, the cracks had started to show after sources had branded the former City trader as an "incompetent bully".
At the time, sources claimed to The Times that Paul had been leading major cost-cutting exercises.
"He knows virtually nothing about restaurants and even less about publishing… the day he resigns the staff should have a big party," claimed the insider.
While another claimed: "He's always been more focused on cost cutting than quality. He's not tried to re-brand or do anything different."
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