It could just be my algorithm talking, but to me, Gordon Ramsay seems to be absolutely everywhere these days.
Whether it’s a suggested YouTube compilation about the nine most disgusting meals he has ever been served on Kitchen Nightmares, or he’s tearing apart an Instagram chef’s atrocious Beef Wellington, I’m starting to hear his voice more than my own family.
I’m certainly not complaining, though, especially about those suggested Kitchen Nightmares compilations, which have provided a great deal of comfort to me over the years.
So, ahead of the 59-year-old Michelin-starred chef’s new Netflix documentary Being Gordon Ramsay, which airs today, it’s fair to say that I had extremely high hopes.
However, mid-way through this behind-the-scenes look at the chef opening up five culinary experiences at one of London’s tallest buildings, 22 Bishopsgate, I found myself feeling shortchanged.
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A far cry away from featuring any of Gordon’s iconic rants while also lacking any real emotional depth, this six-part series all felt rather… pointless.
The documentary begins with an adorable fake sword fight between Gordon and his six-year-old son Oscar just moments before he and his wifeTana, 51, visit the site of 22 Bishopsgate before construction is set to begin.
It’s an intimate portrayal of what the Ramsay household looks like on a normal day.
Throughout the rest of the series we are then offered a number of insights into his biggest fears, including being absent as a parent after his ‘torrid relationship’ with his father.
He shines a light on his poor upbringing as a child on a council estate in Glasgow, where he had to rely on food vouchers at school to eat.
His wife Tana also provides some funny colour about how she ‘hated him’ when they first met.
On top of this, it is interesting to see how a Michelin-level restaurant is created from start to finish, as Gordon confessed ‘this is one of his last stakes in the ground’.
This came after he endured years of abuse from food critics, including a headline in a newspaper that said he was a ‘failed footballer who had a shotgun wedding’.
But throughout this series, there’s just one glaring issue – none of this is particularly new, or groundbreaking.
Thanks to the number of interviews and TV shows Gordon has done in the past, the public already had a pretty good idea of how he can be a menace in the kitchen, but also a loving father and family man at home.
And it comes as no great surprise that running more than 90 restaurants worldwide, as well as starring in multiple TV shows, all while opening up another restaurant at one of London’s tallest buildings is, you guessed it, stressful.
Given the plethora of content about Gordon there is today, this Netflix documentary was neither one thing or the other.
It lacked the comedic bite of his kitchen outbursts in Hell’s Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares, and it also failed to go deep enough into his own personal life, especially in the wake of his daughter Holly and Adam Peaty’s wedding drama.
Across nearly six hours of television, it felt like we were kept at arms length, despite Gordon insisting that this is his ‘most raw’ and honest project to date.
Despite the odd emotional story or interesting anecdote about how he kicked a food critic out of his restaurant who gave him a bad review, if you’re a fan of Gordon, like I am, I’d suggest sticking to the Kitchen Nightmares compilations for your usual comfort viewing.
Being Gordon Ramsay airs on Netflix on February 18.
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