Oh, what we would give to slip into the shoes of a Hollywood star for one day only and star alongside the best of the best in a blockbuster.

The Hobbit book
(Bonhams/PA)

Well TV chef Jamie Oliver nearly grabbed the chance to play a little hairy hobbit in the on screen adaptation of the JRR Tolkien classic, though on one condition – he whip up a culinary birthday treat for the director himself, Peter Jackson.

Easy peasy!

Peter Jackson

Jackson was desperate to treat himself to a delicious meal to mark his big 5-0 which just so happened to fall during The Hobbit filming, and to woo the celebrity chef, the director propositioned Jamie with a role the hit film.

Despite his excitement at the prospect of taking his hobbit-costume home to impress his wife Jools in the bedroom (yes, really!) Jamie admitted he was forced to reject the offer due to prior work commitments.

Jamie Oliver
Jamie was even going to use his hobbit costume to ignite some sparks in the bedroom with his wife (Anthony Devlin/PA)

He spoke about the heart-breaking ordeal while filming his new Channel 4 series Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast with pal Jimmy Doherty and chatting to guest Kate Hudson about roles she’d missed out on.

“The worst thing that happened to me was that I got phoned up by the exec producer and asked did I want to go and cook for Peter Jackson’s birthday, the big birthday,” he admitted.

The Hobbit set
Jamie Oliver could’ve graced this very set in New Zealand ( Anthony Devlin/PA)

“And if I did, they would fly me over and I could be a hobbit in the film. But I was working, I couldn’t get out of it.

“I really wanted to do it, I would have got right into it as well, I would have taken the costume home and said ‘Jools, let’s make love!’.”