Why He's No. 12

Ramsay is the British haute-cuisine chef with an attitude who found fame and fortune with his empire of well-rated international eateries, and increased his profile immensely courtesy of his participation in television reality series such as Hell's Kitchen, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and The F-Word.

Back Stage

The celebrity chef appeared in a couple of British TV series in 2004. Channel 4's offering, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, followed him in his attempts to sort out problems in failing restaurants around England, while ITV's Hell's Kitchen had him training 10 celebrities from Britain in the kitchen arts at a functioning Brick Lane eatery. An American version of Hell's Kitchen debuted on the FOX network in May 2005, and proved popular enough to merit a second season.



The F-Word, another British television cooking show, debuted on Channel 4 in October 2005. His seventh publication, Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy, was released that year. In June 2006, Ramsay was awarded almost $142,000 plus costs after the British High Court ruled in his favor in a libel case against the London Evening Standard. The newspaper made allegations that the state of Bonaparte's restaurant and various scenes in the filming of the series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were faked. Two additional books were published in 2006, namely Gordon Ramsay's Easy All Year Round and Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch: And Other Recipes from The F-Word. In the late 1980s, he worked as a commis chef at the Wroxton House Hotel, then ran the kitchen and 60-seat dining room at the Wickham Arms, until his relationship with the owner's wife made the situation difficult.Ramsay then moved to London, where he worked in a series of restaurants until being inspired to work for the temperamental Marco Pierre White at Harveys.

Forcaste

Gordon Ramsay may be known for his foul-mouthed rants against his kitchen help and would-be-chef contestants, but that infamous spunk of his makes for an unusually entertaining televised cooking show.