Looks like we’ll have to start getting our weekly doses of culinary profanity elsewhere soon, because Gordon Ramsay is hanging up his chef’s hat on Kitchen Nightmares. He announced the decision on his website on Monday.
As filming comes to a close on the latest series of Kitchen Nightmares I’ve decided to stop making the show.
I’m currently filming 4 new episodes, Costa Del Nightmares, for Channel 4 which will be my last. I’ve had a phenomenal 10 years making 123 episodes, 12 seasons, shot across 2 continents, watched by tens of millions of people and sold to over 150 countries. It’s been a blast but it’s time to call it a day.
Starting in 2004 this was the show that really propelled my TV career and I’m very grateful for the amazing team behind the series and for the support from the viewers for almost over a decade! From the first episode which aired in April 2004 with over 5 million viewers we’re now 12 seasons later and it’s been an amazing journey. In 2007 we took the show to America on Fox and they’ve just finished airing series 7 this summer. During this time I’ve visited over 100 restaurants, meeting and trying to help or in some cases failing to help, some of the most weird and wonderful people. Of course Amy’s Baking Company is a standout along with Bonaparte’s but there were good times too; the lovely sisters at La Galleria and Momma Cherri’s to name but two.
I’d like to thank you all for being so supportive. I’m glad I’ve been able to entertain and hopefully help a few people along the way. It’s sad to say goodbye to Kitchen Nightmares but I’ll be continuing with my other shows. It’s been memorable! Thank you for watching.
I suppose this isn’t all that surprising, actually. I’ve read interviews with him before where he’s admitted that the persona he’s had to adopt to make things more interesting for TV – particularly American TV – is not really him at all. He doesn’t actually use “fuck” five times in a sentence, he’s not quite as rude, etc. Sure, his personality partly shines through and there’s a sliver of truth there, but it’s all highly exaggerated for entertainment purposes. He’s actually apparently a pretty decent guy.
I’ve never really watched Kitchen Nightmares much (save for the infamous Amy’s Bakery episode), so I’m not all that bothered. As long as Masterchef Junior comes back, I’m good.