14 Things You Don't Know About Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay has proven time and time again that he's as deftly skilled at preparing Michelin-star-worthy food as he is hurling expletives at struggling chefs on TV. You might be quick to write him off as Masterchef's answer to Simon Cowell, only with a coif Derek Zoolander would envy, but there's so much more to the man than you might realize.
1. He Doesn't Do Lunch-Or Dinner.
The chef prefers to eat five times per day, focusing on smaller portions to keep his energy up, rather than three solid meals. A few of his go-to dishes include green juices, chicken Niçoise salad, and homemade fruit and nut bars, The Telegraph reports.
2. He's Just As Serious About Fitness As He Is Food.
Ramsay has participated in more than a dozen marathons, three ultra-marathons, three half-Ironmans (which span 70.3 miles, swimming, biking and running) and competed in the Ironman World Championship twice.
The championship, held in Hawaii, is known for being incredibly grueling-it combines a 2.4-mile swim with a 122-mile bike ride and a full marathon (26.2 miles). While he completed the race in 14 hours in 2013, he had to drop out of the competition this past year due to dehydration, according to TMZ. Ramsay says he'll be back in 2016 though.
3. He Believes in the Power of a Good Cry.
"I think crying is important," he told Fox News. "Not crying, not showing that emotion, bottling it up can lead to dangerous things."
Ramsay has no problem with the contestants-who are often as young as 8 or 9 years old-on Masterchef Junior crying on the show, though he admits that it's hard to see them get upset over their mistakes.
4. He's Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Just like Kim Kardashian West, Ramsay will soon be starring in his very own mobile game, complete with a cartoon version of himself. Details haven't been released just yet, but we can only imagine it'd involve dodging insults as you "cook" as fast as your thumbs will allow you.
This isn't his first foray into gaming, though. You can also have him shout in your face while playing Nintendo Wii's Hell's Kitchen game.
5. He Was Once Threatened at Gunpoint While Filming.
While working on The Big Fish Fight in Costa Rica, Ramsay and his crew devoted an episode to investigating fishermen who were illegally killing and selling sharks to make shark fin soup. The crew climbed aboard a fishing boat, only for Ramsay to find a sack of shark fins hidden under the ship's hull while he was swimming. When he threw the sack on board and called the fishermen out, an argument erupted, leading some men to point rifles at them when they got to the dock to pressure them to stop filming.
Ultimately, the police urged them to leave the country. "They said, 'if you set foot in there, they'll stab you,'" Ramsay recalls.
6. He's One of the 25 Highest-Paid Celebrities Out There.
The Hell's Kitchen star is No. 21, technically, raking in $60 million last year, according to Forbes. That makes him the wealthiest celebrity chef out there.
7. He's Had Some Work Done.
If you thought Ramsay's gotten more fresh-faced over the years, you're right. A cosmetic surgeon filled in the scars on his chin back in 2009-not to make him appear less threatening on TV, as some speculated, but more because he'd gotten sick of everyone making a big deal about it.
"You've seen the articles: craggy face, map of Wales, ugly, deflated rugby ball," he told The Guardian. "There's only so much sh*t you want to take. I woke up in the morning and [my daughter] Matilda was trying to squeeze pound coins in there."
8. He Dreamed of Being a Soccer Player, Not a Chef.
An injury ended that dream early, so he went back to college to pursue Hotel Management. Along the way, he wound up cooking and never looked back.
9. His 20th Wedding Anniversary Is This Year.
The father of four-three girls and a boy-married his wife, Tana, back in 1996.
10. He's Not Afraid to Poke Fun at Himself.
This past May, Ramsay put a slice of bread over Julie Chen's ears, barking, "What are you?" in her face. "An idiot sandwich," she replied, dejectedly. The insult spawned parodies all over the Internet, including Gigi Hadid and Devon Windsor when they appeared on Masterchef Celebrity Showdown.
But the cruel joke was just that-a joke. It was part of a sketch called "Hell's Cafeteria" on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
11. He Gives 'Masterchef Junior' Contestants Cooking Lessons.
If you ever watched Masterchef Junior and wondered how in the world the contestants know how to make just about anything, you're not alone. As Ramsay explained in his Reddit AMA, he provides basic culinary lessons before filming. They won't show them exactly how to make a certain dish, like croquembouche, but they'll have a class in sheet pastry buns, which can give them a foundation to help them figure out how to make a croquembouche when the time comes.
"When it comes to the more serious elimination challenges, they'll have insight 3 to 4 weeks out," he explained.
12. Mario Batali Once Banned Him from His Restaurants.
Apparently, Batali can only take so many insults, and 'Fanta Pants' (a nickname Ramsay reportedly gave him) is where he draws the line. The Iron Chef banned Rams from his restaurants, several media outlets reported, though all it'd take to eliminate the bad blood is a little heart-to-heart.
"[If Gordon] called me himself and said, 'Let's sit down for a drink.' I'm sure it would be fine," Batali said. "We'd be cool. But right now, it's not cool."
13. He's Got A Great Trick for Phenomenal Oatmeal.
Ramsay often starts the day with a bowl of oatmeal-just water, salt and oats-but when he really wants to take breakfast to the next level, he does this:
"The night before, put 3 to 4 bananas in the oven on a pilot light. And the next day, squeeze the bananas into almond milk, bring it to a boil, then add the oatmeal and dried cranberries, and you'll have the most amazing oatmeal for breakfast," he wrote in his AMA.
14. Singer Ellie Goulding Punched Him Once.
Right in the stomach. Right after confessing to having a crush on him. (To be fair, though, Ramsay was her sparring partner on The Jonathan Ross Show, and he was wearing padding.)
Follow Delish on Instagram.
