From his escapades on Kitchen Nightmares to running a three Michelin star restaurant for more than 25 years, it’s no understatement to say that Gordon Ramsay is TV’s hardest-working chef.
The 59-year-old operates more than 90 restaurants worldwide and has earned a whopping 17 Michelin stars through his group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, the first of which came in 1998.
He has also starred in over 20 TV series throughout his illustrious career, from the likes of Hell’s Kitchen to Next Level Chef and The F Word.
For us mere mortals, it’s enough to make the palms of your hands feel sweaty, but for Gordon, who is speaking to Metro ahead of his new Netflix documentary Being Gordon Ramsay that releases on Wednesday, February 18, it’s like water off a duck’s back.
Donning a black leather jacket and his signature blonde quiff, I’m taken aback by just how intense he is, even during our opening discussion, as he asks me where I’m from and which university I went to.
That razor-sharp level of focus remains after I ask him why this documentary with Netflix felt like the right time, while my right hand continues to recover from the firmest handshake I have ever felt.
‘Netflix have been banging the door for the last couple of years,’ he tells me. ‘I think they do documentaries beautifully. It’s a global launch. 48 different languages, 120 different countries.’
The new six-part series follows Gordon in the lead-up to opening five culinary experiences in one of London’s tallest buildings, 22 Bishopsgate.
Over the course of six months, we also get to take a look at his home life with his wife, Tana, and six children, as well as his hectic work schedule.
‘Bishopsgate gave me an opportunity that, if I’m honest, based on the experience I’ve got, endured, sacrificed for, if you put that option in front of me 15, 20 years ago, I would have run a f*****g mile,’ he says.
‘I opened my first restaurant at 27, I didn’t know how to run a business.
‘So this is an ambitious project that I didn’t want to let slip through my hands. It’s too unique. There’s only one Bishopsgate, right? I wanted to have my stake in the ground.’
With Gordon having been in the public eye for so long, it might be difficult for viewers to learn something new about the culinary expert.
But after explaining that this documentary was ‘nothing sanitised’ and it was about ‘ripping off the Band-Aids’, he tells me that he wants viewers to understand that this is one of the most ‘raw’ projects he has ever done.
The 59-year-old seemed to be like an open book during our discussion, but it was clear from his team that there were still some topics that couldn’t be addressed during the interview.
In recent months, the feud between Gordon’s son-in-law Adam Peaty and his family has dominated headlines after his mother Caroline was not invited to the bride’s hen do.
Subsequently, none of Adam’s family were at his wedding day, except for his sister Bethany, who was a bridesmaid.
Last week, Gordon blasted claims that he behaved like a bully to Adam’s parents, as he told The Sun: ‘[It’s] so appalling to even suggest there was any bullying. That’s absolute nonsense… [it’s] sad to see that barrage of negativity that was self-propelled by them.’
But to me, Gordon expanded vaguely on a comment he made during the documentary about being ‘careful for what you wish for’ when it comes to fame.
‘Fame’s a funny thing, he says. ‘I want to be remembered for what I put on a plate, that’s the most important part, and so it’s scary when you see just how far that game reaches, and just what kind of reputation you’ve got in countries you’d never even think of.’
He adds: ‘It makes you more humble. In a way that you become a little bit embarrassed by that kind of admiration. We’re not curing cancer. We’re not delivering babies.’
Discussing how he can ‘never say no’ to taking pictures with fans, he tells me: ‘I’m my own worst enemy.
‘When someone comes up, and they want an autograph or a picture, you know, the minute you say yes, then you’re, you’re jumped on, the minute you say no, you’re the biggest a*****e on the planet. So I’m just s**t at saying no.’
Being Gordon Ramsay airs on Netflix on February 18.
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