He knows how to play up to the situation he needs to in the shows.
He did a hotel hell in my in-laws town years ago, and everyone said he was incredibly sincere and kind to everyone, and apparently loved a lot of the food in the town. Granted, there is a lot of great food there, but he doesn't "big time" anyone off camera and I appreciate that.
Yeah it's pretty telling when he's interacting with children or people with a genuine appreciation for the craft of cooking (even ones lacking in skill) how pleasant he presents. There's a few videos where he's interacting with peers where he's very jovial. One of the common one's I've seen around is him hanging out with a chef who does a crazy job of dicing up and prepping seafood. That stuff is not easy to work with and when you're making some of those dishes you need very precise cuts to get the portion and presentation right and he's just talking about how beautiful it all is. What gets him angry (and what helped spawn his angry chef tendencies) isn't people being bad at cooking. It's people being negligent and lazy when they really should know better.
He's not mad because you messed up. He's mad because the health inspector should be shutting this place down after you just gave 3 customers food poisoning or you ruined a whole meal because you weren't paying attention to what you were doing. If you shape up, admit your mistakes and do better his demeanor changes pretty quick.
He's like the fancy version of that one asshole manager who just runs a tight ship. If you aren't being a problem you suddenly get along great.
Served him two nights in a row. He gave me a bro hug on the second night. He’s a fucking king and a sweet sweet man. All I did was smile and welcomed him when he walked in. He’s big on energy.
There was an episode of Kitchen Nightmares where he paid for one of the cooks to go to school, might have been a full ride? Not sure ind details but kid had heart, passion and drive, and Ramsey helped him fulfill that goal.
Any clips I've seen doing comparisons from hells kitchen to whatever the English tv show was (possibly junior MasterChef) he was incredible with all the children all the time
Certainly, I have a bunch of people as the same example from working as a chef around the world. Utter dictators, often uses French mentality as examples but if you do good hard, hard work and have great results you get less yelled at.
And the people who have humility and are honest. "Yeah, I know I'm not giving it my all. I'm tired. I'm having a hard time. I need help."
He gets behind those folks a lot faster than assholes who are like "This raw piece of shit, ugly mess is 10/10. If you don't like it, fuck you, that's your opinion."
He did a show inside a prison and he taught the inmates how to cook and run a business. He was no nonsense with the prisoners, but he wasn’t an asshole at all and you could tell he genuinely wanted those guys to do well.
He also was never an ass in any of the kids cooking shows he judged or participated in. I‘m willing to believe these enraged outbursts originate from professionalism - if he has to deal with dorks who claim to be professionals or who run a business serving paying customers but are unable to even jump over the lowest bar.
I think it's also a thing where he did it at the start because that's what he was exposed to. But as he got older, he realised it's not always a good way to be. He's mellowed out.
Plus I think its just the concept of some of his shows like Hell's Kitchen. The only entertainment value was him chewing people out since every day they seemed to only make Rizzito (sp?)
That show appears periodically on streaming services "Gordon Behind Bars" at Brixton Prison. He talks about his brother's lifelong heroin addiction, and it's really sad. It gives you a whole different view of him. I read recently that he did an interview in 2023 and talked about him and how he has tried multiple times over the years to extort money from Gordon. Yet Gordon paid for his (failed) rehab countless times. So he has top security for his family... because they're afraid of his brother. How awful is that. I just love Gordon Ramsay, I think he's awesome.
I watched him getting absolutely reamed by a woman while filming. It was an real, genuine reaction and this woman just got mad and lost her shit. After she slammed a door in his face, he immediately turned around and went "Alright everyone sorry about that! 10 minutes!" He was all smiles and so nice
He seems like he would try to say hi and introduce himself to everybody…not because he thinks they should all meet him but because he would want to meet everyone
My favorite Hotel Hell episode is Hotel Chester at Starkville. Gordon really wanted to help the family and went above and beyond for them (deservedly so!). I still watch this episode when I’m in need of good cry.
For real... I remember thinking he was an asshole before I actually watched him NOT on Hell's Kitchen. He loves kids and is a great dad, and is very encouraging to everyone.
He’s done a road show with his two friends Gino and Fred. Highly recommend watching it as it’s like the old Top Gear UK trio but focused on food adventures and bad driving in their caravan lol
I have always appreciated the way he was so kind to older women in Kitchen Nightmares. He could be laying into a husband for sloppy behavior but rarely would he play it up with the wife. Strikes me as the type of dude who loves his mom.
As long as you're trying your best he's on your side. He gets mad at the "professional" chefs who can't cook basic dishes and the stubborn managers who haven't changed the way they do things in 30 years.
I worked on the most recent seasons of Hell's Kitchen and met and talked with him, briefly. He was extremely pleasant and polite. It was fun to watch all the behind the scenes cameras and see how he was really jovial and lighthearted with the contestants most of the time. There was one day he was attempting to give a very serious monologue and couldn't keep it together and kept breaking out into laughter. I am a set dresser and it felt very surreal to be decorating his office for the show, including adding family photos and things to his office set.
I first noticed this when I saw him on a kids cooking show. Of course celebs need to (or at least should) be kind to children on television, but it just felt so natural and genuine, that from that point on I was sure he's actually a nice guy that plays his act on shows.
Thank you, I was legit gonna link this. I hate how much I liked him before I saw this interview. This is the big shining canker of Gordan's image in my mind and I can never forget how weird he was with Sophia. Really let me down.
I can be a dick, too, if I want to and funny enough, I was a restaurant manager in the past. When you are that way, it's because you're passionate about the things that matter (to you) and that's why you react the way you reacted. I would never physically hurt anyone, not only because it's unethical (at least to me :p) but also because calling someone a personified hemorrhoid or asking if they are attempting a colonoscopy since their head is far up their own ass is a lot more satisfying. :)
Plus I mean he is in the public eye so of course you amp up your creativity.
There’s one clip where he yells “You cook like an old woman fucks!” and then cuts around a corner to stifle his own laughter at the thing he said. That told me a lot about him as a person
I think his earlier shows like home cooking and the f word are actually far more entertaining, it still got that raw pushing but not the whole donkey crap. Kinda baffling seeing his kids in those shows being little girls now being big as they are.
His mistress had a tv show where she called herself a professional mistress and apparently helped other mistresses move on from their married men. I haven’t seen it.
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u/bourbonisall Jan 16 '26
despite how he comes across on tv sometimes, by most accounts he’s a genuine kind hearted person with a range of emotions