13 Things We Learned About Gordon Ramsay From His Netflix Documentary

The six-part Netflix docuseries "Being Gordon Ramsay" debuted on February 18, 2026, and it's chock-full of inside information about Gordon Ramsay's true life. For instance, fans of the world-famous celebrity chef learned that Ramsay prefers his pancakes to be crepe-thin and that his parents almost named him Scott instead of Gordon. He also revealed that Joan Collins was one of the celebrities he once threw out of his restaurant, and that attending auto racing events at a local track as a child instilled a love of Formula One racing.

But beyond the fun trivia tidbits, the world also got a glimpse into Ramsay's life behind the screen, including some very private moments indeed. While much of the show's focus was on the professional difficulties of running and maintaining a culinary empire, the heart of "Being Gordon Ramsay" is about his relationships with his wife and six children. Viewers also learned how those family ties have been affected by his own difficult upbringing at the hands of an alcoholic and emotionally abusive father.

So, what is it really like "Being Gordon Ramsay"? Is he as demanding of perfection in his private life as he is in his public? Here's what we found out in his Netflix series.

At the center of "Being Gordon Ramsay" is the celebrity chef's efforts to build a lasting legacy with a suite of restaurants atop 22 Bishopsgate, one of London's tallest skyscrapers. Ramsay shared that not only has the project been a massive personal investment, but it will also cost roughly $27 million. Despite his massive success and ambition, he still fears losing it all due to his hardscrabble upbringing.

"I grew up on a council estate in Stratford-upon-Avon, and I still remember my school uniform, having black patches on my second-hand trousers," Ramsay said in an episode of the Netflix series. Growing up in low-rent housing, he learned the importance of hard work by watching his mother hold down three jobs to make ends meet. "And I'll be honest with you, there's always that little needle of fear. 'You're going to lose it.'"

Ramsay explained that he was mocked at school for using Social Security lunch vouchers to get free meals in the cafeteria — an experience that still drives him to succeed today. This motivation also stems from his embarrassment for letting his parents down by doing poorly in school. Achieving success in the restaurant world means even more to him. "Now, today, I feel happy that I've made my mum happy."

Growing up, Gordon Ramsay was surrounded by addiction. In the Netflix docuseries, he revealed that his father was an alcoholic, which created a frightening atmosphere at home. "I had to sit there ... and almost watch him ruin his life through alcohol," Ramsay said. "You're worried about, you know, hitting the end of the bottle ... 'cause you know what happens at the end of that."

Sadly, Ramsay's younger brother Ronnie, who shared a bunk bed with Gordon when they were growing up, became addicted to heroin when they were teenagers. "He's been an addict for the last four decades," Ramsay said with visible emotion. "I've gone to hell and back with him, and so I have a guilt complex. That could have been me. It could've been switched."

It's something Ramsay clearly keeps in mind and heart. While watching a Formula One race in Las Vegas from the rooftop of his own restaurant, Ramsay took a moment to be amazed, reflecting that this kind of unimaginable success just served as a reminder of how far he had come — and where he came from.

One of the most tragic aspects of Gordon Ramsay's life is his broken relationship with his father, which is a recurring theme throughout the Netflix series. Both the chef and his wife, Tana, talked about how Ramsay's father, Gordon Ramsay Sr., would intentionally provoke, needle, and mock his son.

"I had a father that told me, you know, cooking was for women, and it wasn't a man's job," Ramsay said, adding that his father was incapable of understanding his passion for food. Even something as simple as asking for toast instead of the fried bread that traditionally accompanies a full English breakfast would set his dad off, accusing his son of forgetting his roots and becoming too posh.

Still, Ramsay longed for paternal approval — something he would never get after his father died of a heart attack at 53. "Deep down inside, I would love for my dad to have tasted something and even said, 'Yeah. Good job,'" Ramsay said. "I would've loved for him to have understood, even though he didn't back what I was doing or believed in where it was going, you want validation from your parents."

Gordon Ramsay and his wife, Tana, shared their unique meet-cute story in "Being Gordon Ramsay," revealing that they were each dating other people when the two couples shared a car ride to a wedding. That proved to be prophetic: within a month, the two had left their partners. Around four years later, even though Ramsay thought Tana was out of his league, they married.

That was in 1996. Fast forward three decades, and the couple has six children together. And there's one more thing that Tana helped give birth to: Ramsay's cooking empire. Throughout the Netflix show, Tana makes it clear that the two are a team. In fact, shortly after giving birth to their first child, Megan, Tana agreed to sell their home to raise money to launch Ramsay's first restaurant. Most new parents in that situation would crave stability, but Tana said it was a risk they had to take to pursue their dreams.

"It was scary," she said. "Because of the hunger to move forward, to achieve, we were never not going to do it. We just had to get our heads 'round it."

On his many television shows, Gordon Ramsay can often come across as angry and even abusive when dealing with chefs or restaurateurs who don't measure up to his exacting standards. So it may be quite a surprise for viewers of "Being Gordon Ramsay" to see a much softer side of the chef when he's at home spending time with his children.

Four of those children are now adults. Megan, twins Holly and Jack, and Tilly were all born between 1998 and 2001. Sad at the thought of facing an empty nest, Ramsay and his wife, Tana, chose to have more children later in life. Oscar was born in 2019, and Jesse in 2023. Ramsay got quite emotional speaking about his children, choking up during Holly's engagement party. He also became quite introspective while discussing his own shortcomings as a father.

"I absolutely adore the kids. There's part of that love and affection that's built up through guilt. The older ones have made it clear ... 'Dad, we miss you.' And that's hard ... I feel I could have been there a bit more, truthfully," he said. "But I think I'll make more time for Oscar and Jesse."

For the time being, only one of Gordon Ramsay's six children is following him into the high-pressure world of cooking: his fourth child, Tilly. In the Netflix docuseries, Tilly recounted how she grew up watching her father cook and was thrilled when he began including her in the kitchen. And according to her mother, it was just as meaningful for Gordon.

"Tilly and Gordon are very similar," Cayetana "Tana" Ramsay said. "They have this whole connection with Tilly's love of food, and I think the fact that it does seem as if she's gonna go into that industry has made him really happy." That was on full display when an emotional Gordon helped Tilly pick out her first set of chef's whites before she went off to culinary school. The two also engaged in a (mostly) playful contest to see who could make the best grilled cheese sandwich. (One of Ramsay's tricks for upgrading grilled cheese involves caramelized onions.) According to Tilly, the two are so similar that they often butt heads.

Still, Gordon was later thrilled to spend a day visiting her at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, even wiping away tears. "Way more important than any business, family is absolutely front and center," he said. "Tilly is a female Gordon Ramsay. She is passionate, determined ... she's a feisty little madam."

Early in the Netflix series, Gordon Ramsay's daughter, Tilly, asked the celebrity chef about the most difficult kitchen experience he'd ever had. His answer: Harveys, where Ramsay worked under the tutelage of world-famous chef Marco Pierre White. His time at Harveys wasn't just difficult; it also molded Ramsay into the chef he is today.

"I got into a kitchen with the first ever British chef to win three [Michelin] stars, the most prolific chef in the country, Marco Pierre White. And he was like, in fact, a father figure," Ramsay said. "He put food on a plate like no other ... and you had to follow quickly, because if you didn't, you know, step up and match what he wanted, you're f***ing toast, man."

Ramsay, who keeps a massive, framed photo of White on the wall in his house, said that working for the chef was a transformative experience. Just a year into the job, White went away for a couple of days and left Ramsay — then just 22 years old — in charge of Harveys. When White returned, he lambasted the food that Ramsay had been presenting. But Ramsay knew White was lying, as diners never even realized White wasn't in the kitchen. That gave Ramsay the confidence that he could be a top-level chef in the industry.

Throughout "Being Gordon Ramsay," the topic of the chef's legacy comes up frequently. More important than building a new suite of restaurants, though, is mentoring the next generation of great chefs — just as Marco Pierre White trained Ramsay. A major focus of the documentary is Ramsay mentoring two of the lead chefs at his 22 Bishopsgate properties: executive head chefs Michael Howells and James Goodyear of Lucky Cat and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, respectively. Ramsay spent considerable one-on-one time with both through the series, critiquing their food, offering suggestions and advice, and putting them in positions where they can make a big splash in the industry.

And it's not just Howells and Goodyear. Ramsay also spent time with young chefs around the world, in seminars and restaurant visits, pushing them to new heights. "I think my role now, and has been for a while, is making the new, young chefs shine as individuals," he said, adding that a healthy ego is important in the culinary world. "I try to teach these young chefs today to strive for perfection, and so I think my responsibility now, going forward, is to get them as good as, or if not better than, Gordon Ramsay."

When you see Gordon Ramsay's name on a restaurant, you might assume that he's the one doing the cooking. But with nearly 90 restaurants around the globe, this culinary empire is a lot more than just the celebrity chef himself. In fact, the Netflix documentary shows just how many people are behind the brand.

As the face of the operation, Ramsay finds his time split between a dozen competing needs at any given time. He may be rushing from one restaurant to the next, making a public appearance, or filming a TV show or something for his social media brand — a schedule juggled by his executive assistant, Rachel. Ramsay's time is too precious to spend diving into any single thing in detail.

Instead, he has a massive organization of chefs, executives, and more working around the clock and around the world while he uses his platform to drum up publicity. "Being Gordon Ramsay" spotlights the efforts of people like brand ambassador Jean-Claude Breton, company CEO Andy Wenlock, and others. They're just a few of the over 1,100 employees who keep the Gordon Ramsay machine running smoothly.

If there's one thing the Netflix docuseries shows in detail, it's just how much time Gordon Ramsay spends traveling the world for his many business endeavors. Frequently away from home, Ramsay spent the series leaving London to visit Texas to film "Kitchen Nightmares," the Philippines for a restaurant grand opening, and Las Vegas for a partnership deal with Formula One.

Perhaps the most eye-opening segment in the show is a sudden trip to Miami. While in Vegas, Ramsay decided he needed to sample the menu that chef Michael Howells was creating for the new restaurant at 22 Bishopsgate. So Ramsay flew Howells to a Lucky Cat restaurant in Miami to cook the dishes, then hopped on a private jet from Nevada to Florida to taste them himself. After delivering some precise feedback on how the menu could be improved, Ramsay was out the door and on to his next destination.

Ramsay said that he hates all the time he has to spend away from home and his young children flying around the world. Yet he also feels that it broadens and deepens his cooking knowledge, inspiring him with new dishes and ideas. After sampling some local dishes at a kitchen stall in a Philippine marketplace, he said, "I need this time. I need to be here. I need to sit opposite of this kitchen ... I've always snuck away, I've always disappeared. This, for me, is my holy grail. The freedom."

Considering he's nearly 60 years old, you might not expect Gordon Ramsay to be at the cutting edge of social media. But the celebrity chef has made a career out of defiantly going against the grain. "Being Gordon Ramsay" makes it clear that he has not only wholeheartedly embraced the influencer lifestyle, but he also loves it.

One of the first things he did in the series was invite a crowd of the most popular food influencers to visit the construction site of his new restaurant to build buzz. "A lot of chefs hate these influencers because they don't understand where they're going with their phones and their constant posting. But they're very powerful," Ramsay said. "When they post, it goes viral, and it's gone in seconds to the other end of the world."

That explains why Ramsay himself has leaned so hard into social media. His Instagram account has over 19 million followers, while his TikTok boasts over 40 million. "Social media is one of the most exciting parts of my life," he said. "The new generation of chefs today swear by it. It's their culinary bible, so respect it." Ramsay did admit that some part of generating this online buzz was a calculated middle finger to traditional food critics, who he felt had unfairly treated his family. About the only old-school institution he still respects is the Michelin Guide, saying that earning stars is validation of a job well done.

One thing that Gordon Ramsay takes very seriously is his health. In his youth, Ramsay was a budding soccer prodigy, earning a spot on the Rangers F.C. youth team in Scotland. But being a chef means constant access to delicious, rich foods, and Ramsay revealed that by his mid-30s, he was warned to get in better shape.

Just six months later, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 53. "So that scared the s*** out of me," Ramsay said. "You've got to look after yourself." Nowadays, Ramsay is all about the fit life, something he also emphasizes both to his children and to the young chefs he works with. Besides surfing, swimming, and bicycling, he also lifts weights and runs on a treadmill.

"I do get to eat what the f*** I want, because I train," he said. "I don't have to watch my diet, I don't have to watch my cholesterol. I'm not overweight. I'm in shape. ... and I'm strong. ... You need to be to take on what I've got on."

Between his multiple TV shows and his social media empire, Gordon Ramsay seems to seek out the spotlight. In the Netflix docuseries, the chef was seen rubbing shoulders with celebrity friends ranging from Sylvester Stallone and Lisa Vanderpump to Mr. Beast.

So you might be surprised to learn that Ramsay revealed he's actually uncomfortable with the level of fame he's achieved. "It's quite scary, it's quite intimidating," he said. "If I could have envisaged this level of success and that level of attention, I would tell my younger self to be careful what you wish for." It's easy to see why. In one frightening scene from the show, Ramsay was mobbed by eager fans, one of whom accidentally stabbed Ramsay in the eye with a pen while trying to get an autograph. Ramsay's wife, Tana, expressed fear for his safety, texting him, "What are you doing? Do you have to get that close?"

Still, the couple decided to raise their kids in the spotlight rather than keep their personal life completely private. Tana explained that they wanted to include the kids in everything they did so Ramsay's career wouldn't feel like a separate life.