Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay is known as a Scottish celebrity chef. He is most famous for launching restaurants around the world and hosting popular TV programs like ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘MasterChef.’

Background

Gordon James Ramsay was born on November 8, 1966, in Glasgow, Scotland and was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, after he moved there with his family at 5 years old. Ramsay's first love was soccer, and he set his sights on a pro athletics career. At 15 years old, the gifted Ramsay joined the Glasgow Rangers, a pro club.

Marriage, Wife, and Kids

Ramsay married teacher Cayetana Elizabeth "Tana" Hutcheson in 1996. They have four children together, Megan, twins Holly and Jack, and Matilda. In 2014, the couple set up the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation to help bolster the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.

Career as a Chef

After completing his studies, Gordon Ramsay set himself under the mentorship of a portion of Europe's top culinary experts. He apprenticed with Marco Pierre White at Harvey's in London, worked for Albert Roux at Le Gavroche, and afterward worked under ace cook Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy in France.

In 1993, Ramsay broke out as head gourmet expert of the newly opened Aubergine in London where, through the span of three years, he earned the café a two-star rating from Michelin. In 1995, Ramsay was granted Newcomer of the Year at the lofty Catey Awards, an Oscars-like occasion for the café and inn business.

Gordon Ramsay's movement to TV started in 1996 with his appearance as a judge on the BBC cooking show MasterChef. In 1999, he was the focal point of a British miniseries, Boiling Point, which followed his working life as he opened his first café. The achievement of that narrative brought forth a follow-up miniseries, Beyond Boiling Point, in 2000.

Ramsey was tapped to have two projects in the spring of 2004: In Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, he looked to pivot bombing cafés, and in Hell's Kitchen, he ran a cooking contest among 10 people, with crowds casting a ballot to vote off competitors.

With reality tv in full sprout in the U.S., that was the ideal opportunity for Ramsay to make his move over the Atlantic. In May 2005, an American adaptation of Hell's Kitchen, which set hopeful restaurateurs under the exceptional eye of the show's host, appeared on FOX. Like their British counterparts, American spectators figured out how to love and detest the grating cook as he reduced the field of participants down to one last champ. In the meantime, he propelled another culinary series back in the U.K., The F Word.