Gordon James Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer.
86 Facts About Gordon Ramsay
2.
Gordon Ramsay combines activities in the television, film, hospitality, and food industries, and has promoted and hired various chefs who have apprenticed under his wing.
3.
Gordon Ramsay was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry.
4.
Gordon Ramsay was named the top chef in the UK at the 2000 Catey Awards, and in July 2006 he won the Catey for Independent Restaurateur of the Year, becoming only the third person to have won three Catey Awards.
5.
Gordon Ramsay has an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister.
6.
Gordon Ramsay has described his early life as "hopelessly itinerant" and said his family moved constantly owing to the aspirations and failures of his father, who was an occasionally violent alcoholic; Ramsay described him as a "hard-drinking womaniser".
7.
Gordon Ramsay worked as a pot washer in a local Indian restaurant where his sister was a waitress.
8.
Gordon Ramsay had hoped to become a footballer and was first chosen to play under-14 football at the age of 12, but his early footballing career was marked by injuries; after a serious knee injury, he was forced to give it up.
9.
Gordon Ramsay enrolled at North Oxfordshire Technical College, sponsored by the Rotarians, to study hotel management.
10.
Gordon Ramsay describes his decision to enter catering college as "a complete accident".
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Gordon Ramsay then moved to London, where he worked in a series of restaurants until being inspired to work for Marco Pierre White at Harveys.
12.
In Master Chef series 3 episode 18, Gordon Ramsay stated that Guy Savoy was his mentor.
13.
Gordon Ramsay continued his training in France for three years, before giving in to the physical and mental stress of the kitchens and taking a year to work as a personal chef on the private yacht Idlewild, based in Bermuda.
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Gordon Ramsay has described the decision to set out on his own as "the most important day of my entire cooking career; the most important decision of my life".
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Gordon Ramsay next opened Petrus, then Amaryllis in Glasgow, and later Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's.
16.
Gordon Ramsay hired his friend and maitre d'hotel Jean-Philippe Susilovic, who works at Petrus and appears on Ramsay's US television programme Hell's Kitchen.
17.
Gordon Ramsay has opened restaurants outside the UK, beginning with Verre in Dubai.
18.
In February 2012, Danny Lavy, the owner of the restaurant, announced the restaurant was disassociating itself from Gordon Ramsay, citing a lack of involvement and understanding on Gordon Ramsay's part.
19.
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, located at Royal Hospital Road, London, was voted Top Restaurant in the UK in the London Zagat Survey in 2001 and was awarded its third Michelin star.
20.
Gordon Ramsay was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry, but almost missed the award ceremony when his plane was delayed.
21.
In July 2006, Gordon Ramsay won the Catey award for "Independent Restaurateur of the Year", becoming only the third person to have won three Catey awards.
22.
Gordon Ramsay overtook Jamie Oliver, who had been top of the list in 2005.
23.
Also in 2006, Gordon Ramsay was nominated as a candidate for Rector of the University of St Andrews, but lost at the polls to Simon Pepper.
24.
Ramsay's flagship restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, was voted London's top restaurant in Harden's for eight years, but in 2008 was placed below Petrus, a restaurant run by former protege Marcus Wareing.
25.
In January 2013, Gordon Ramsay was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame.
26.
In late 2006, Gordon Ramsay Holdings purchased three London pubs, which were converted into gastropubs.
27.
Shortly afterwards, Gordon Ramsay released a letter to the press describing how he had unravelled the "manipulative" Hutcheson's "complex life" after having had him followed by a private detective.
28.
In October 2012, Gordon Ramsay opened The Fat Cow in Los Angeles at The Grove, a shopping area that is popular with tourists.
29.
In partnership with footballer David Beckham, Gordon Ramsay opened the Union Street Cafe in the Southwark district of London, UK in September 2013.
30.
On 26 June 2019, Chloe Sorvino from Forbes magazine reported that Gordon Ramsay had struck a $100 million deal with Lion Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in London.
31.
On 24 March 2020, Gordon Ramsay laid off more than 500 staff in the UK after a number of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants had to close temporarily under the coronavirus lockdown.
32.
In March 2021, Gordon Ramsay launched his own brand of California wines; produced in collaboration with Master Sommelier Chris Miller and International Wine Expert Nick Dumergue at Seabold Cellars in Monterey, California.
33.
Ramsay's new cookery school called The Gordon Ramsay Academy opened in Woking, Surrey in September 2021.
34.
Gordon Ramsay's first documented role in television was in two fly-on-the-kitchen-wall documentaries: Boiling Point and Beyond Boiling Point, but he had appeared previously as a judge on a MasterChef-like series for young catering students in 1997, with his then restaurant partner.
35.
Gordon Ramsay appeared on series three of Faking It in 2001, helping the prospective chef, a burger flipper named Ed Devlin, learn the trade.
36.
Gordon Ramsay had hosted a US version of Kitchen Nightmares, which premiered on Fox on 19 September 2007.
37.
On 23 June 2014, Gordon Ramsay announced he was ending the series.
38.
In 2010, Gordon Ramsay served as a producer and judge on the US version of MasterChef.
39.
Gordon Ramsay starred in a travelogue about his visit to India, Gordon's Great Escape followed by a series set in Asia.
40.
Gordon Ramsay hosted the series Ramsay's Best Restaurant, which was the first UK series by Ramsay's own production company, One Potato Two Potato.
41.
Gordon Ramsay joined several other celebrity chefs in the 2010 series, The Big Fish Fight, where he, along with fellow chef Jamie Oliver and a few others, spent time on a trawler boat to raise awareness about the discarding of hundreds of thousands of sea fish.
42.
In 2006, Gordon Ramsay took part in a television series for ITV, following the lead-up to Soccer Aid, a celebrity charity football match, in which he played only the first half, nursing an injury picked up in training.
43.
Gordon Ramsay's involvement was limited after he received a four-inch cut in his calf.
44.
Gordon Ramsay held the top spot on Top Gear's celebrity leader board, with a lap time of 1.46.38 until overtaken by Simon Cowell.
45.
Gordon Ramsay starred in part of a National Blood Service "Give Blood" television advertisement in England, in which he said that he would have died from a ruptured spleen had it not have been for another person's blood donation.
46.
On 27 December 2007, Gordon Ramsay appeared in the Extras Christmas special.
47.
In January 2008, Gordon Ramsay guest featured on Channel 4's Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack as the Big Brother housemates took part in his Cookalong Live television show.
48.
Gordon Ramsay spoke directly to the Big Brother House via the house plasma screens, regularly checking on the progress of the contestants.
49.
In November 2011, Gordon Ramsay made an appearance on The Simpsons episode "The Food Wife".
50.
In February 2017, Gordon Ramsay made a guest appearance on New Girl episode "Operation: Bobcat".
51.
Gordon Ramsay made an appearance on 11 December 2017 broadcast of Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, a South Korean reality television show on JTBC.
52.
In June 2006, Gordon Ramsay won a High Court case against the London Evening Standard newspaper, in which Victor Lewis Smith had alleged, after reports from previous owner Sue Ray, that scenes and the general condition of Bonaparte's had been faked for Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
53.
In June 2007, Gordon Ramsay's show was sued by the terminated general manager of the New York restaurant Purnima, who alleged fakery.
54.
Hyde had quit his position at the restaurant during the show, when Gordon Ramsay suggested that the owner hire top Indian chef Vikas Khanna as the consultant chef for Purnima.
55.
On 21 March 2012, Ramsay filed a $2.7 million lawsuit against his former partners of his restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, the Laurier Gordon Ramsay, over lost licensing fees and defamatory statements made against him.
56.
Gordon Ramsay tried to nullify the 25-year lease, signed in 2007.
57.
The judge said that Gordon Ramsay had known about the guarantee beforehand but that he had total trust in his father-in-law, Christopher Hutcheson, and left the deal to him.
58.
The judge dismissed the case and ordered Gordon Ramsay to pay all legal costs and outstanding monies, in total more than one million pounds.
59.
Gordon Ramsay's reputation is built upon his goal of culinary perfection, which is associated with winning three Michelin stars.
60.
Gordon Ramsay has had confrontations with his kitchen staff, including one incident that resulted in the pastry chef calling the police.
61.
In November 2007, Gordon Ramsay installed 29-year-old Clare Smyth as head chef at his three-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road.
62.
Gordon Ramsay has been criticised for his frequent use of strong language on his programmes, first by British celebrity cook Delia Smith, then, in relation to Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, by a member of the Federal Parliament of Australia.
63.
On 5 June 2009, Gordon Ramsay started trading insults with Australian A Current Affair journalist Tracy Grimshaw.
64.
Gordon Ramsay has previously expressed a dislike for vegetarianism and veganism.
65.
In 2006, on the second series of The F Word, Gordon Ramsay showed a softened stance on vegetarianism after learning about intensive pig farming practices, including castration and tail docking, while letting two young family piglets live in an intensive farm.
66.
Gordon Ramsay has been highly critical of Food Network and Iron Chef America star Mario Batali.
67.
When Jock Zonfrillo passed away in 2023, Gordon Ramsay was quite aggrieved when he paid his tributes.
68.
Gordon Ramsay said in 2016 that he exercises semi-competitively for his general well-being.
69.
Gordon Ramsay often competes in Ironman events, marathons, and triathlons.
70.
Gordon Ramsay eats very little per meal and prefers to graze throughout the day, partly due to the habit he built up as a judge and chef and because of his busy schedule.
71.
Gordon Ramsay told Joe Wicks that cycling has improved his physical and mental health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
72.
Gordon Ramsay married Cayetana Elizabeth Hutcheson, a Montessori-trained schoolteacher, in 1996.
73.
Gordon Ramsay is a car enthusiast with a love for Ferrari.
74.
Gordon Ramsay maintains a sizeable car collection in the UK which includes the following:.
75.
Gordon Ramsay displayed his collection in a video posted to his YouTube channel filmed at Brands Hatch.
76.
Gordon Ramsay has been involved in a series of charitable events and organisations.
77.
Ramsay has been Honorary Patron of the Scottish Spina Bifida Association since 2004, and in 2005 he launched The Gordon Ramsay "Buy a Brick" appeal to help the organisation raise funds to build a new Family Support Centre and Head Office in Glasgow.
78.
In 2006,2008,2010,2012, and 2014, Gordon Ramsay took part in the biennial charity event Soccer Aid to raise money for UNICEF.
79.
In 2008, Gordon Ramsay was in Iceland's Westman Islands filming a puffin hunting segment when he lost his footing and fell during a descent off an 85-metre cliff, landing in the icy water below.
80.
Gordon Ramsay was able to swim back up to the surface of the water by removing his heavy boots and waterproof clothing.
81.
Gordon Ramsay seriously injured his knee, smashing the cartilage during training.
82.
Gordon Ramsay has claimed to have played two first-team games for Rangers.
83.
Allan Cairns, a photographer who took a picture of Gordon Ramsay playing for Rangers in September 1985, said the photo was not one of the Rangers first team but a side picked to play a testimonial match.
84.
Gordon Ramsay trained with us for a few months after that but then got injured.
85.
Gordon Ramsay is a football fan and supports Rangers and Chelsea.
86.
Gordon Ramsay contributes a food-and-drink column to The Times' Saturday magazine.