Ask anyone what Gordon Ramsay is best known for and chances are they'll say: swearing a lot, cooking and having a filthy temper - probably in that order.
Being Gordon Ramsay (Netflix)
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Ask anyone what Gordon Ramsay is best known for and chances are they’ll say: swearing a lot, cooking and having a filthy temper – probably in that order.
Fans of the celebrity chef will find the first two very much in evidence in this six-part Netflix series.
Anyone tempted to play a drinking game, downing a shot for every profanity uttered will be sozzled within half an hour (I counted 14 f-bombs in the first ten minutes).
As for that famous, fiery temper – well it seems Mr Ramsay, 59, may be mellowing in his old age.
Viewers get to see a more vulnerable side to TV chef Gordon Ramsay in his new documentary Being Gordon Ramsay
He is famously known as a formidable presence in the kitchen - with swearing and a fiery temper
In his personal life, Gordon has been married to wife Tana since 1996, with the couple having six children
Being Gordon Ramsay takes us behind the scenes in the lead up to the opening of his latest restaurant venture – 22 Bishopsgate, a £20million project housing five businesses under one roof on top of a London skyscraper.
It’s described by the great man as the ‘most difficult’ thing he’s ever done – although I suspect he said that about all 95 of the global restaurants he’s established in the last 28 years.
While most of the content focuses on the six-month build-up to the launch, we also see another softer side to Gordon – the loving husband to wife Tana and the hands-on dad to six children ranging in age from 27 years to 18 months.
His determination to be a good and present father is very much influenced by his own troubled relationship with his alcoholic dad.
The now deceased Gordon Ramsay Sr never supported his son’s career choices, telling him, ‘Cooking is for women, not a man’s job’.
It’s when talking about his dysfunctional childhood, his brother Ronnie’s heroin addiction and the sacrifices his mother Helen made to raise her children that we see Ramsay at his most emotional.
There’s also a touching, teary moment when he watches his daughter, Tilly, don her first chef’s whites as she prepares to go off to culinary college.
But, let’s be honest, the reason most people will be tuning in is in the hope of gaining any juicy insight into the family feud surrounding the recent wedding of his daughter Holly to Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty.
Peaty’s mother Caroline was uninvited to the ceremony and is now estranged from her son.
Gordon's daughter Holly recently married Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty - the couple attending the premiere of Being Gordon Ramsay
Gordon and daughter Tilly, who has followed in his footsteps by becoming a television cook and presenter
Although Holly and Adam (or ‘AP’ as Gordon affectionately calls him) are featured in the show, the fall out came later and is not addressed.
We see Holly and Adam on a video call to Gordon and Tana after getting engaged. ‘Welcome to the f****** family,’ says Ramsay in his own inimitable way.
He reveals that his pal David Beckham (no stranger to family feuds himself) told him how much more daughters cost than sons – something that’s echoed when Holly tells her dad she wants three wedding dresses.
‘Three? F*** off!’
The Beckhams and the Ramsays are great pals and anyone who watched the recent series that David and Victoria each did will notice some startling similarities here: the affection, the teasing and the family dynamics.
In the Victoria Beckham documentary, there was high drama in the build up to her Paris fashion show with a torrential downpour threatening to sabotage the occasion.
It’s the same in Being Gordon Ramsay when heavy rain could ruin a rooftop launch party at 22 Bishopsgate (spoiler alert: it doesn’t).
As with the Beckhams and their shows, Ramsay is an Executive Producer of his series, made by his own production company. In other words, it’s all just another tightly-controlled extension of the brand,
There might not be any scandal, but the series is still entertaining and even a little thrilling as we wait to see if the restaurant launches successfully (spoiler alert number two: it does).
Older, wiser, softer and more potty-mouthed than ever… I found this glimpse into the culinary king’s life surprisingly delicious.
Being Gordon Ramsay is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.