Why Is Gordon Ramsay Famous?

Gordon Ramsay is known for his delicious food and fiery temper, but what led to him becoming a celebrity chef?

Gordon Ramsay’s first big foray into television was a documentary called Boiling Point, in 1998. After this, Ramsay secured other television gigs until being given his own show—Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, in 2004. Prior to Ramsay appearing on TV, he worked as a chef in several venues before opening his own restaurants.

Let’s take a look at Gordon Ramsay’s early life and explore how he managed to become a “celebrity chef.”

The Beginnings of Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay was born on November 8, 1966 in Johnstone, Scotland, but moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, in England, when he was 9 years old. He is the second of four children. 

Gordon’s mom worked as a nurse. His dad had a series of odd jobs—swimming pool manager, welder, and storekeeper—that caused the family to move around. Gordon described his childhood as “hopelessly itinerant.” 

He also described his father as a “hard-drinking womaniser” and says he experienced abuse and neglect as a child.

As a teenager, Gordon worked as a pot-washer in an indian restaurant. When he was 16, he moved out of the family home into an apartment of his own in a nearby town.

The Soccer Career That Never Was

Gordon played soccer and was selected to play on Warwickshire’s under-14 team. However, his soccer career was marred by injuries. Gordon later commented, “Perhaps I was doomed when it came to football.”

When he was 15, Gordon was given a trial with a professional Scottish soccer team—the Rangers—which he had supported as a child. Unfortunately, he seriously injured his knee during training and his soccer career was cut short.

Making it as a Chef

Gordon had become interested in cooking as a teenager. When he was 19, he enrolled at a local college to study hotel management. 

He then found work as a chef at a hotel and later at a pub, although he had to leave this job due to his affair with the owner’s wife.

Gordon moved to London and worked in several restaurants until joining the team at “Harveys,” run by temperamental chef Marco Pierre White.

Gordon worked at Harveys for almost three years but tired of the french chef’s “rages and […] bullying and violence.” Gordon wanted to advance his career and start running his own kitchen but he knew he needed to study French cuisine. 

He eventually moved to Paris and trained with top chefs—Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon—who ran Michelin-starred restaurants. 

Gordon returned to London in 1993 and was awarded the position of head chef at the three-Michelin-starred La Tante Claire.

In 1998, Gordon decided to take the plunge into running his own restaurant. He described the decision as “the most important day of my entire cooking career; the most important decision of my life.”

The restaurant—Restaurant Gordon Ramsay—was awarded its third Michelin star in 2001.

After opening his first establishment, Gordon didn’t stop there. He opened a restaurant in Glasgow, then several in London, Dubai, Tokyo, and New York. 

Gordon on TV

Gordon took part in fly-on-the-wall documentaries about the ongoings of a top-rated restaurant—Boiling Point (1998) and Beyond Boiling Point (2000). In 2001, he appeared on an episode of Faking It, where he trained a burger-flipper to be a high-class chef.

It was in 2004 that Gordon was given two of his own TV shows in the UK—Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen.

In 2005, a US version of Hell’s Kitchen was aired. Then, in 2007, a US Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon became known to audiences for his perfectionism and infamously short fuse. 

Since these shows were aired, Gordon has made several other guest appearances on TV, as well as starring on his own shows.

In 2011, Gordon even made his acting debut in a film titled Love’s Kitchen. Watch the trailer:

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