Gordon Ramsay has admitted that when he first laid eyes on his wife, Tana Ramsay, she was in a relationship with a friend of his.
The outspoken chef has revealed that he first met Tana while she was dating one of his friends in the early 1990s, a moment he still vividly remembers.
Speaking about their first encounter, Gordon said he was immediately struck by her looks, comparing her to a young Julia Roberts, and joking that he couldn’t believe his mate was dating someone so striking.
Gordon told Ok! magazine: ‘Tana was driving the car and I was sat in the back seat looking at my mate going, “Oh my god, your girlfriend is f****** gorgeous.”‘
‘She looked like a young Julia Roberts and she brought this level of excitement like no other. I’m not sure what Tana said when she met me, I got the feeling she wasn’t a big fan.’
At the time, however, any attraction appeared to be one-sided. Far from being swept off her feet, she revealed she found him cocky and irritating, admitting she initially thought he was ‘really arrogant.’
Fate intervened just weeks after the couple initially met.
Within a month, both Gordon and Tana were single, and a chance conversation one evening turned into an all-night chat, Tana revealed, saying she, ‘must have fancied him.’
The pair went on to marry in December 1996 and are now approaching their 30th wedding anniversary.
Together, they share six children and have become one of Britain’s most recognisable celebrity couples, often appearing alongside one another in interviews and public events.
Recently, though, the family has found itself making headlines for more turbulent reasons.
Gordon and Tana have been drawn into a very public fallout involving their son-in-law, Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty, and his estranged family.
Following Adam’s wedding to the Ramsays’ daughter Holly, tensions reportedly escalated after his mother was banned from attending, leaving his sister as the only member of his family in attendance.
Gordon later described the breakdown in relations as ‘self-inflicted,’ insisting that he and Tana had done nothing wrong and had treated Adam’s relatives generously.
However, members of Adam’s family have strongly disputed that version of events.
One relative accused Gordon of bullying behaviour and claimed the Ramsays failed to engage with Adam’s mother at all, alleging that messages were ignored and promised attempts at reconciliation never happened.
They told The Sun: ‘The Ramsays did not treat Caroline like royalty at all – they treated her as though she was nothing. They ignored her existence and not once did Mrs Ramsay return any of Caroline’s texts.
‘The get together lunch they promised on the day of the engagement never materialised either.’
But through it all, its clear Gordon and Tana are remaining a united front, with Tana previously sharing the Ramsays are no strangers to family feuds: ‘We’ve had fallouts within my family; there are no winners. I’m so grateful we got through mine and have happy relationships again.’
She continued: ‘You don’t have to be best friends, but be civil. You can’t be happy when there’s a fallout going on. It’s really negative, and no one wants that.’
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