Even if his temper is the stuff of GordonRamsaySwearsAtYou.com, you almost gotta feel sorry for Gordo when you read his first interview (with the Times of London) since it was revealed that his empire was in dire financial straits. Maybe it’s because (contrary to a rant posted at the Black Pearl’s defunct site) we’ve heard from someone who recently filmed an episode of Kitchen Nightmares with him that he’s a genuinely nice guy who cares about the places he’s fixing up and breaks way more of a sweat off camera than he needs to, or maybe it’s because the dude had to sell his Ferrari (sniff), but we can only frown in sympathy as Gordo finally eats some humble pie.
“Tenacity and ambition overtook me. We thought we could do anything, that we could not fail. We flew too high, too fast.” He was so concerned about the prospect of administration that he considered selling up to 20% of the company and his £6m home in Wandsworth, south London, to save the business. “I did not think I could get through. The hurdles were coming faster and higher all the time,” he said.
Gordo’s solution was partly to sack a fourth of the people in his London office, something he must’ve done with none of the relish he showed on Hell’s Kitchen. So, now that his finances are all cleaned up, when are we going to see that gastropub he promised us?
Gordon Ramsay: ‘Oh *!!?**! I’m well and truly cooked’ [Times UK]
