Bids for chef Jamie's scooter top £1m
It could well be the most famous scooter in the world – but celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is said to be “amazed” at frenzied bidding for his two-wheeler, which now tops £1m (€1.48m).
The 28-year-old put his Aprilia scooter on Internet auction site eBay earlier this week to raise money for his Cheeky Chops charity.
The fund supports the training of the young chefs at his restaurant, Fifteen.
In the last two days the bidding became frenzied.
He said: “We think we have got three serious bidders. We are staggered.
“None of us know where this is going to end up. They are apparently serious.
“It would seem apparently there is some sort of background you can get on the bidders and apparently the three do have good backgrounds.
“It seems to be serious and it is for charity so we very much hope they are serious. We are amazed.”
He said they thought a couple of the bidders were from America, where Jamie has high profile admirers including Harrison Ford, who is a fan of his books, and Hollywood golden couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.
He said: “We don’t know the identity of who’s bidding, and we wouldn’t want to give them away anyway, but whoever they are they obviously have a few quid to spare.”
On being told the bidding had now risen to past the £1m mark, Mr Berry said: “That is just insane.”
The auction will close on Wednesday night, coinciding with a charity auction at the Babington House hotel in Somerset.
On the website, Jamie is pictured with the three-year-old bike which has 841 miles on the clock and one month remaining on its MOT certificate.
In a greeting to potential bidders, he says: “I am selling my Aprilia Habana Custom Scooter. This was kindly donated to me by Aprilia and is the actual scooter that I ride to the restaurant Fifteen.
“As well as winning the scooter, I will also shout the lucky winner dinner for two at Fifteen where I will hand over the keys personally! You make it there and I’ll pay!”
On the site, eBay says it will warn non-payers twice, followed by indefinite suspension after a third infraction.
It adds: “eBay prohibits buyers from not following through with a buying obligation. We consider non-payment to be a serious violation of policy.”
