A British acting veteran has described chef Gordon Ramsay as ‘a vicious bully’ more than 20 years after she tried to punch him on national TV.
Amanda Barrie, 89, appeared in the first edition of Hell’s Kitchen, which featured Gordon trying to reach several celebrities how to cook in a high-stress environment.
The show ran for five years and was originally presented by Angus Deayton – alongside Gordon, now 58, who was head chef during the first season in 2004.
At the time, Gordon had a TV reputation for being foul-mouthed team leader and having a short temper, and left Hell’s Kitchen to start his own cooking series The F Word.
Gordon’s contestants were the often the target of his rants, which the chef insisted earlier this year were 100% genuine expressions of frustration brought on by the demanding food industry.
In passages of the book, titled I’m Still Here: My 90 Years – due out later this month – Amanda referred to Gordon as a ‘bully’ and compared the TV chef to US President Donald Trump (via The Sun).
‘We all knew [Hell’s Kitchen] was a vehicle for Gordon but not that he was going to take every opportunity to insult and humiliate us,’ adding: ‘[Gordon and Donald Trump] are both bullies.’
On one occasion during her season of Hell’s Kitchen, the high-octane nature of chef work got to Amanda – who had played Alma Halliwell for 20 years on Coronation Street.
While filming a key episode, Gordon asked Amanda if he could have a word away from everyone else, during which the actress said she was ‘absolutely exhausted’.
She then criticised the ‘silly, stupid hours’ the contestants had to work, adding: ‘I had no idea these hours would have people bursting into tears every five minutes.’
Gordon asked Amanda if she was deliberately ‘showing off’ in front of the other contestants, and began questioning whether she ‘felt better’ for doing so.
At this point, Amanda raised her first towards Gordon and went to strike him while shouting: ‘How bloody f*****g dare you! I’m not showing off, I am tired!’
The Boiling Point star grabbed Amanda’s arm as she went to hit him, thankfully restraining her, before saying: ‘Don’t be stupid. Don’t be so stupid. Calm down.’
Gordon then asked Amanda not to raise her hands, at which point she pushed into him and asked, ‘What do you mean, don’t raise my b***dy hands?’
Other contestants then asked Amanda to calm down and tried to escort her out of the kitchen, but she refused, saying: ‘I’m not lying or playing a game or wanting to show off. Everybody’s [tired].’
After calling him ‘vicious’ in the book, Amanda says that, in that moment on Hell’s Kitchen, she had ‘never seen a face that was asking more to be slapped’.
Amanda’s comments have emerged during a week when Gordon has revealed that he underwent surgery to remove the skin cancer Basal Cell Carcinoma.
He captioned an Instagram post: ‘Grateful and so appreciative for the incredible team at The Skin Associates and their fast reactive work on removing this Basal Cell Carcinoma, thank you!’
Metro has contacted Gordon Ramsay’s representatives for comment.
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