Chefs Who Pushed Gordon Ramsay To The Edge

Despite Gordon Ramsay's cursing and shouting, or maybe because of it, he is one of the world's most famous and successful chefs. He's widely respected, but also feared, and known to throw things at people who offend him. Ramsay once told The Guardian that he used the F-word 298 times in the first two seasons of "Kitchen Nightmares," but his strong personality and potty mouth persist even when he's outside the kitchen. This behavior has earned him a lot of criticism, and even led to public quarrels with other celebrity chefs. While fans have noticed that he's a lot calmer than he used to be, his temper can still resurface when triggered.

Gordon Ramsay's angry persona is rooted in his deep passion for food, and pride in his profession. He doesn't normally do more than utter a few choice insults when being interviewed about a rival, or when berating a contestant on one of his shows. But sometimes, the "MasterChef" host gets so fired up, he completely loses his cool. When other chefs are sloppy or lazy, or when they refuse to listen to his instructions in the kitchen, he shouts. He doesn't tolerate bland, inedible food, and that's why so many in the culinary world look up to him despite his scary reputation. From the people who bravely (or stupidly) matched his fiery attitude, to fellow celebrities who weren't shy about trading insults in public, here are the chefs who pushed Gordon Ramsay to the edge.

While the press may sometimes fabricate fights between two industry giants, the feud between Chefs Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver was long, loud, and real. It started in 2009, when Ramsay insulted Australian journalist Tracy Grimshaw at Melbourne's Good Food and Wine Show. While presenting on a giant screen, the chef showed a digitally created image of Grimshaw with a pig's snout, and a naked woman's body. Oliver publicly criticized Ramsay, and triggered their decade-long rivalry.

When both chefs toured Canada in 2010, Ramsay famously called Oliver a "one-pot wonder" who was "just a cook" while saying that he, Ramsay, was a real chef. He also took jabs at Oliver's weight, as reported by the Daily Mail. Ramsay took the insults even further when he hosted ITV's "The Nightly Show" for a week, and called Oliver fat three times on national TV. Responding to the offensive skit, in an interview with The Sun, Oliver likened Ramsay to a dementia sufferer, and then said that he was tired of feuding. He innocuously told the publication, "...he's got four kids and I've got five kids and I don't want to be slagging off some kids' dad on telly." But when Ramsay heard this, he took it as an offense against his wife, Tana, who had suffered a miscarriage a year prior. He demanded an apology from Oliver.

The chefs now claim to have mended their rift. Ramsay was even reportedly supportive when Jamie Oliver's restaurants went into administration in 2019.

"Hell's Kitchen," one of Gordon Ramsay's enduring shows, is aptly named because of the immense pressure its contestants face during a live dinner service. The show capitalizes on Ramsay's penchant for yelling and cursing out the chefs, supposedly giving the public a real-life peek at what happens in restaurant kitchens. Many celebrity chefs have spoken out against Ramsay, and the show for creating such a horrific image of the industry. Despite any negative press, Ramsay continues to yell at every contestant, with some screaming fits becoming especially explosive. During Season 5, a particularly nasty tirade was directed at Giovanni Filipponi when he dared talk back after Ramsay called him "d***face" in Episode 10.

Before their memorable exchange, Ramsay reprimanded Filipponi for repeatedly opening the convection oven, as this would inevitably affect the temperatures, and mess with the dishes being cooked. Later, Filipponi was tasked with preparing the chicken for the evening's special: a stuffed chicken dish created by fellow contestant, Ben Walanka, who won the individual challenge the day before. Unfortunately, Filipponi's first plate was raw, and his second had a chewed-up drumstick, prompting Ramsay to yell the infamous insult. Filipponi replied: "I am not a d***face chef." Incensed, Ramsay shouted at Filipponi, and continued to yell expletives while doggedly following him around the kitchen. Their tense exchange, along with his poor performance, led to Filipponi's elimination later that evening.

Avid fans of "Hell's Kitchen" were surprised when Ramsay appeared to have a personal issue with contestant Ben Walanka. Fans of the show remarked that Ramsay seemed to dislike contestants named Ben, as he was also notably mean to Ben Caylor in Season 4. But the host was particularly brutal to Walanka in Season 5, Episode 7, when the contestant was having trouble cooking Wellingtons. After seeing that Walanka kept opening the oven door longer than necessary to check on the dish, Ramsay was beside himself. "You're f****** next. I swear to God, you're f****** next," Ramsay threatened, referring to the fact that he had just unceremoniously eliminated another contestant, J Maxwell, for messing up the scallops.

Walanka admitted to his mistake, and said that he was upset with himself. To that, Ramsay responded loudly: "I wouldn't be upset about you. I'd be embarrassed." When Walanka continued to have trouble with the dish, Ramsay told him, "I'm watching you like a f****** hawk. You know why? Because I want you out. You're not cutting it, you're dreaming. Dirty pig!"

Amy's Baking Company is a "Kitchen Nightmares" legend, as it prompted Ramsay to don his chef's coat, and start working in the kitchen on the first day, for the first time. It's also the only restaurant in the show's history that Ramsay walked away from.

The owners, Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, were a married couple prone to shouting at each other, their employees, and their customers. If anyone asked about an order that was taking too long, or dared to return improperly cooked food, Samy would get worked up, become aggressive, and yell at customers to shut up or leave. Amy, the head chef, would vacate her post in the kitchen to help her husband kick customers out.

On Season 2 of "Kitchen Nightmares," Ramsay witnessed many problems at Amy's Baking Company. Samy messed up orders at the POS, and refused to inform Amy when customers returned their food. Amy would then become combative, even retaliatory, when someone criticized her cooking. Samy even pocketed the tips that customers left for servers. But the biggest problem was that Ramsay couldn't get the owners (who are now divorced) to listen to any constructive criticism. Instead, Amy deflected, convinced that her cooking was perfect, and that the negative reviews were all coming from haters with ulterior motives. Unable to get past the owners' stubbornness, Ramsay ultimately decided to leave on the second day of filming. "Good luck," was all he could say to the Bouzaglos.

Joseph Tinnely, an ex-marine and sous chef from New York, will always be remembered as the contestant who threatened Ramsay with physical violence. He was belligerent, overconfident, and unable to handle criticism. When Ramsay asked him to taste the undercooked Brussels sprouts in Season 6's Signature Dish Challenge, Tinnely asked for a fork, saying a tad defensively, "I'm not an animal." After his team won a sumptuous lunch with Ramsay, and the world-famous chef shared some words of wisdom, Tinnely flat-out said that he was learning nothing. "I didn't come here for lunches and all this," he told Ramsay. "It's good to get out, but I don't really care."

The two came to a head during the nominations at the end of Episode 2. Ramsay asked Tinnely to present his group's first nominee, but the latter said rudely, "They can speak for themselves. They know who they are." Fed up with Tinnely's attitude, Ramsay called him "slightly stupid," and kept asking to give him one name, and why. Tinnely got more agitated, and continued to mouth off, saying, "I ain't no f****** b****, chef. I don't give a f***!" Shocked, Tinnely's fellow contestants tried to get him to be respectful, but he'd already lost it. He threw his jacket to the floor, and went toe-to-toe with Ramsay. "You want to talk some sh**? Let's go step outside, motherf*****." Security immediately flanked Ramsay, who'd finally had enough. He eliminated Tinnely for his sheer disrespect.

Mario Batali is an American chef and restaurateur who, like Gordon Ramsay, has many celebrity connections, and TV shows. The feud between the two culinary powerhouses supposedly started in 2007, when Batali gave an interview with The Guardian. He said that Ramsay, with his dull, outdated food, and zero understanding of how to pair ingredients, "didn't get New York" cuisine. Since then, Ramsay has publicly referred to Batali as "Fanta Pants" for his penchant for wearing bright clothing.

The rivalry heated up in 2012, when Ramsay applied to own the UK trademark for "Spotted Pig," presumably for business reasons. Unfortunately, there was already a famous establishment by the same name in New York: The Spotted Pig, a Michelin-starred restaurant co-owned by Mario Batali, British chef April Bloomfield, and restaurateur Ken Friedman. Batali wasn't happy. "There's got to be a thousand other animals they could have chosen besides The Spotted Pig," he told Eater Vegas, as reported by the New York Post. "A striped minx, for example."

If Ramsay had been granted the trademark, Batali and his business partners would have been prevented from expanding their restaurant to England. Many in the industry saw this as an underhanded move by Ramsay. The late Anthony Bourdain accused him of appropriating Bloomfield's brand, and Jamie Oliver dropped a dig in the form of a tweet that read, "We love originals," as reported by the Daily Mail. Ramsay eventually dropped his trademark application.

By Season 15 of "Hell's Kitchen," Chef Gordon Ramsay had kicked out many contestants in the middle of dinner service. Nonetheless, Kevin Ridlon's elimination stood out for how cold it was.

Ridlon had been making a poor impression on Ramsay since Episode 1, when he and his teammate, Alan Parker, fumbled at the fish station. The pair sent raw lobsters to the pass at dinner service. Then, in the next episode, Ridlon misheard instructions, and almost double-cooked some Beef Wellingtons. Ramsay called him out for not communicating with his team.

In Episode 5, Ridlon's undercooked jambalaya failed to impress, forcing his group to lose the Holiday Platter Challenge. At dinner service, Ramsay reprimanded him for cooking the first order's scallops too early; they only needed a minute to cook, while the carbonara they were to be served with still needed five minutes. Ramsay said Ridlon's misstep was setting the rest of his team up for failure. When Ridlon's second order of scallops was also overcooked, Ramsay called his performance "pathetic and embarrassing." Ramsay demonstrated how to cook scallops properly, but Ridlon's third batch was undercooked. It was at that point that Ramsay lost his cool. He punched the offending scallops in frustration, called all of the men out of the kitchen, and unceremoniously told Ridlon to pack his bags and "f*** off out!" Ridlon didn't even have a post-elimination interview, as was customary, or the traditional photo-burning ceremony.

Season 18 of "Hell's Kitchen" departed from the norm with "Rookies vs. Veterans." After placing fourth on Season 4, Jen Gavin belonged to the all-stars team, and expectations for her performance were high. But during a challenge in Episode 3, Gavin let her team down when she added too much dressing to her salads. Later, during pre-service prep, she had an altercation with her fellow team member, Ariel Contreras-Fox, whom she thought was criticizing her beurre blanc from the previous night.

With tensions high, Gavin's mood and overall performance slacked during dinner service, and Ramsay noticed. After messing up her mashed potatoes, Gavin's sarcasm started to get the better of her. Ramsay called her to attention, and she tartly responded, "What am I doing wrong now, chef?" She then refused to communicate with the rest of her team about her prep time. When Ramsay asked for more garnish for a duck dish, Gavin claimed she gave him enough for two servings, and yelled that Ramsay was lying to set her up. "I gave you enough ... You're trying to clown me up in here right now," she said, before turning her back on the host. Infuriated, Ramsay dropped a tray filled with dirty dishes to the floor, and stalked after Gavin. Their shouting match continued outside the kitchen and, amidst Gavin's accusations of sabotage, Ramsay demanded that she take off her apron, and walk out the front door.

Season 1 of "Kitchen Nightmares" was hosted by a younger Gordon Ramsay with a sharper tongue, and shorter temper. A dirty kitchen was sure to make that temper reveal itself, and that's exactly what Ramsay found when he inspected The Seascape Inn, the restaurant featured in Episode 4. 

The owners of the establishment claimed that their kitchen was scrubbed weekly, and that inspectors gave them a high score on cleanliness. But Ramsay found oil and grime covering the walls, and the steel surfaces around the stove. The walk-in fridge was filled with spoiled, raw food, including a sour-smelling slab of pork that Chef Doug, the restaurant's head chef, said he used for meals. Ramsay also discovered that his lunch from the day before was cooked with old, frozen ravioli, and moldy pesto sauce. He was appalled by the filth, and by Chef Doug's disregard for sanitation. "You kill whatever customers you have left," Ramsay said.

Chef Doug was unhappy about Ramsay's intervention. He resisted constructive criticism, and refused to taste the new dish Ramsay cooked to add to the menu. Finally, after witnessing a disastrous evening service, Ramsay convinced the owners that Chef Doug and his sous chef, who also resisted the positive changes that the owners wanted to make to the business, had to go.

The prizes for winning "Hell's Kitchen" include a job at one of Chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, so it's important for contestants to prove that they have what it takes to work in a professional kitchen. Unfortunately, in Season 4, Matt Sigel was unable to do that.

In Episode 10, while working the meat station, Sigel struggled through dinner service. When Ramsay brought everyone's attention to his raw beef Wellington, and to the fact that he'd overcooked the filet mignons, Sigel got frazzled, and tried to take the meat away while the host was still speaking. Infuriated, Ramsay grabbed the offending Wellington, and threw it to the floor. For the rest of the evening, Sigel claimed that he had a migraine. When Ramsay asked what was going on at his station, he muttered, "Busy getting yelled at." Unfortunately, Ramsay heard him. Sigel slowed even more, and took a migraine pill while everyone looked on. Sensing that he was using his migraine as an excuse for his poor performance, Ramsay dragged Sigel out of the kitchen, and yelled at him to go back to the dorms.