Top 10 Scandals Gordon Ramsay Wishes You Would Forget

Ramsay got his head start in the chef-ing game by working under the legendary Marco Pierre White. Then he moved on to head the restaurant Aubergine on White’s recommendation. After making it a resounding success, things began to go downhill with the owners, and Ramsay believed they planned to replace him with White. When a negative review appeared in the papers for Aubergine, Ramsay believed that White was behind it. Then, a man got off his scooter, entered the restaurant, grabbed the reservation book, and ran. This book was basically the business before everything was computerized. Ramsay publicly blamed White for this, who denied it. But in 2007, Ramsay admitted he stole the book and framed his former mentor.

Back in ‘99, the Guardian created a profile on the then-up-and-coming chef. His comments about women are painful to read. Asked about his reluctance to hire women, he opined that their periods meant they only work three weeks a month. He also complained that you can’t shout at a woman who’s pregnant. In 2001, the BBC released their piece about Ramsay, which described him as having “an ego inflated to pavlova-like proportions.” But most cringeworthy again were his comments about women. He said that female chefs lacked sex appeal, due to the nature of kitchen tasks, and that he could never marry one… Perhaps being sexy for you isn’t their primary function, chef.

When you tune into an episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” or any other Ramsay reality show, you can guarantee he’ll criticize any establishment that serves frozen food. Even in interviews, he stated he would never eat a ready or frozen meal. Well, he definitely had an egg on his face when news broke in 2009 that several of his businesses were serving pre-prepared meals to customers, all from the same supplier. The dishes then have their prices marked up massively to rake in that sweet profit. In some cases, as much as nearly 600% by some reports! A spokesperson speaking on Ramsay’s behalf reportedly defended the practice by stating the pre-prepared dishes were “freshly made.”

In 2004, it was discovered that Ramsay had gotten himself in trouble with the police 11 years before in 1993. He and two other men were arrested for gross indecency as they exited the toilet of the Green Park Underground station. A spokesperson for Ramsay confirmed the drunk trio had been cautioned but stressed there was nothing more intimate going on. Instead, they were just "horsing around”. It’s not the only time the cops have come calling for Ramsay. In 2002, he was pulled over for driving down a one-way road in London. Ramsay was charged after failing a breathalyzer test. However, the case was thrown out on a technicality as the arresting officers didn’t offer the chef a blood test.

In an interview with The Mirror in 2007, Ramsay joked that if his kids announced they were vegetarians, he would sit them on his electric fence. Yet that’s just a taste of the hostility he’s shown to non-meat eaters. In 2003, Ramsay was asked in an interview what lie he recently told. He confessed he told a table of vegetarians that the artichoke soup they had was made with vegetable stock when it was actually chicken. We even saw a similar incident on camera for an episode of the UK’s “Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.” At the restaurant La Lanterna, a vegetarian volunteered to sample the pizza. After eating it, Ramsay told him that it contained parma ham, then mocked the volunteer’s dismay.

Oh, boy. In 2010, Ramsay admitted that he hired private detectives to surveil his father-in-law and business partner, Chris Hutcheson, whom he suspected of financial mismanagement. Two years later Ramsay was sued by his former accountant Sarah Stewart. She said that Ramsay’s detectives had taken intimate photos of her with Hutcheson. Allegedly, Ramsay offered to share the photos with Hutcheson’s son Adam, and even sent one to Stewart herself. In 2017, Hutcheson and his sons were charged for hacking into the chef's computer to obtain financial records and private information. Hutcheson was sentenced to six months in jail. It all probably made family gatherings a bit awkward.

Beloved chef Anthony Bourdain was a great force on and off the screen. A particular highlight was the travel and cooking show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” So, after his tragic passing in 2018, the world was pretty confused by the actions of National Geographic and Ramsay just one year later. They announced a similarly-named show called “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.” And it was soon apparent from the show’s description that it was very similar to Bourdain’s series. Fans who found this distasteful were worried that while Bourdain tended to celebrate different cultures and food, Ramsay can be a lot blunter and more aggressive in how he describes dishes.

When celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson released his memoir in 2012, one incident painted Ramsay in an incredibly bad light. Samuelsson claimed that after arriving as a guest chef at London’s Lanesborough Hotel in 2000, Ramsay called him, but not to celebrate the moment. Instead, he was angry that Samuelsson hadn’t mentioned his name when asked which chefs he admired. The British chef allegedly screamed threats and insults, one of which was racially charged. Ramsay has denied the allegations, while Samuelsson has stuck to his story.

Ramsay had developed a reputation as a devoted family man for years. But that all came crashing down with allegations about his extra-curricular activities. In 2008, the now-defunct newspaper, The News of the World, published on their front page the tale that Ramsay had been having an affair with Sarah Symonds, a “professional mistress,” for seven years. According to Symonds, she and Ramsay would meet at a London hotel and other places. The chef, who has been married since 1996, denies the allegations. Symonds went further with her account by claiming Ramsay was also having affairs with two other women.

Before we unveil our top pick, here is a dishonorable mention.

A Scuffle on Set Left a Contestant with an Injured Ankle, Leading to a $124,000 Settlement

Controversy followed Ramsay to Australia, thanks to remarks about journalist Tracy Grimshaw. In front of thousands of people at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show in 2009, Ramsay put up an image of a nude woman on her hands and knees with the face of a pig. He said it was Grimshaw, who had interviewed him the night before. He also said she was a lesbian and needed botox. In response, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described Ramsay as “a new form of low life”. A year later, Ramsay shared the talk show stage with Sofia Vergara on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, where he waded into some uncomfortable and cringey innuendo. The interview came back to haunt him, resurfacing in 2019.