At the 2011 premiere of her film W.E., Madonna drew a line: 'I would do anything for my children. Except have a Marmite sandwich. My daughter's insistent that I eat one, but I won't! Vile!' One of the most quotable hater verdicts ever given.
I Love Marmite: 200+ articles about Britain's most divisive food
Marmite is the British yeast-extract spread first produced in 1902 in Burton-on-Trent. It is manufactured by Unilever, and from mid-2027 by McCormick after the March 2026 acquisition agreement closes. The thick, dark, glossy paste is famous for its strong salty flavour and the polarising reactions it produces, which gave the brand its 1996 slogan "love it or hate it". This site, I Love Marmite, was founded on ilovemarmite.com in 2000, ran there until 2016, and was restarted on ilovemarmite.co.uk in 2025 with the original archive republished. It covers 120+ years of Marmite history, the McCormick takeover, recipes, products, and the occasional bit of utter bonkers.
John Cena and Marmite: the wrestling champion who exercised his right to hate it
Handed a taste of Marmite, sixteen-time WWE champion John Cena recoiled, then used the brand's own logic to justify himself: the advert says love it or hate it, so he was entitled to hate it. One of the more honest verdicts on the list.
Nigella Lawson and Marmite: the cook who turned it into a pasta sauce
Nigella Lawson doesn't just like Marmite, she cooks with it, building a whole spaghetti dish around it and defending it as offering 'saltiness and savouriness the way a stock cube might'. Firmly, and deliciously, on the love side.
Florence Pugh and Marmite: the Oscar nominee who put it on toast for the nation
During lockdown, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh filmed herself making Marmite on toast with real care, and one firm rule: the butter goes on slightly cold so it only half melts into the hot toast. A genuine lover, particular about the details.
Graham Norton and Marmite: the chat-show king who can't stand it
Graham Norton cannot stand Marmite, and has said so plainly. He even reached for it on Eurovision, calling one entry 'like Marmite, if everyone hated Marmite'. A useful name on the hate side from a man whose whole brand is warmth.
Paul McCartney and Marmite: the Beatle who hides it in a three-decker bagel
Sir Paul McCartney, a vegetarian since the 1970s, is a Marmite lover who built it into an elaborate layered bagel with a dark scrape of Marmite at the base. The salty, savoury hit is exactly the kind of flavour a long-time vegetarian leans on.
Helen Mirren and Marmite: the Dame who would happily do the advert
Dame Helen Mirren is a cheerful, unhedged Marmite lover, to the point of saying she would happily front an advert for it. For an actress known for regal poise, planting her flag so firmly on the love side is a small, human thing to put on the record.
(definitely NOT) Steven Fri on Marmite, voting Conservative, the McCormick sale, refusing Bartle Bogle Hegarty, and why Dostoyevsky was wrong about the jar
Not a real interview. The Astral Mnemonicon's first séance, with a fictional 'Steven Fri' standing in for the asleep, un-consulted Stephen Fry. Conservative-voting joke unpacked, McCormick sale, and why Dostoyevsky was wrong about the jar.
Billy Bragg and Marmite: the Bard of Barking who put it in a song
Most people manage a sentence about Marmite. Billy Bragg put it in a song: the title track of 'England, Half English' pictures a breakfast of 'Marmite soldiers washed down with a cappuccino'. You don't reach for Marmite as shorthand for home unless you genuinely eat it.
Is Marmite an energy food? The truth behind the wartime reputation
People half-remember Marmite as some kind of wartime energy product, the brown jar that kept factory workers and soldiers going. The reputation is real, but the science is widely misunderstood. Marmite barely contains any calories at all, so it is not an energy source in the way a sugary drink or a flapjack is. What it does carry is a heavy load of B vitamins, which help the body release energy from the food you eat. That distinction is the whole story.
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