This idiotic man unravelling in front of us isn't the Gordon I met

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jun 14, 2009 | by SUSAN SWARBRICK

WHAT on earth made Ramsay do it? While he's never been one to shy away from controversy, this is an entirely new low for the TV chef who has become as famous for his fiery, shouty and sweary alpha male persona as his Michelin-star cooking. It's also one which is somewhat at odds with his less outlandish off-screen persona.

A little over a year ago I interviewed Ramsay in Dubai. It was a time when he appeared to have the world at his feet, a decade of hard work finally coming to fruition. He had opened his first restaurant in Paris (well, technically Versailles) at the Trianon Palace, unveiled the dollars10m Gordon Ramsay at The London (West Hollywood) in Los Angeles and a debut airport outlet, Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food, at London Heathrow Terminal 5 He spoke animatedly of plans for potential ventures in Switzerland, Germany, Australia and Qatar, said he was looking at a second site in Paris, locations in Chicago and Toronto, and also talked about opening a grill-style restaurant in Edinburgh.

For all his success, though, Ramsay was only too aware of his detractors and talked disparagingly about those who he believed would like to see him fail. "Unfortunately there is a tall poppy syndrome, " he said. "Everyone thinks you're spreading yourself too thin but the majority of chefs I know can't run a bath let alone 18 restaurants across the world. " It was tough talk, yet, if truth be told, the Ramsay I encountered was a fairly inoffensive, affable creature. Flamboyant, yes; confident verging on arrogant, at times, definitely; but not the bullying, oppressive character we have grown used to seeing on television. Away from the heat of the kitchen he was charm personified. Disappointingly, he swore very little, his sentences littered with "Christ almighty", "Jesus" and the occasional "holy mackerel".

After our initial interview I spent the best part of a day with Ramsay and his wife Tana on a fishing trip off the coast of Dubai and was pleasantly surprised by his relatively sunny disposition. He came across as witty, gregarious and ? perhaps in small doses ? likeable. The only time he came close to losing his temper was when our photographer, suffering from seasickness, decided to lie splayed out on the deck, meaning Ramsay had to clamber over him to reach his rod and twice missed out on landing a catch.

We had to return to shore almost empty-handed and all Ramsay had to show off to the waiting photographers was a sole barracuda. Unfortunately the sun had dried it out and it looked distinctly plastic. "It's not a real fish, " he joked. "We had divers come up under the boat and hand it to us. " Even so, his ego was clearly bruised.

Ramsay likes to shock and is a skilled raconteur. Over lunch he told an anecdote about his children Molly, 11, and Jack and Holly, both nine. "Holly can be really naughty, " he said. "We were doing this interview for 60 Minutes in Australia and they asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. Jack said a footballer or chef, Megan said a vet then Holly whipped up her top and said, 'topless model'. " Next to him Tana chipped in: "We'd had the builders in and I think she found their copy of The Sun a few too many times. " I witnessed a real closeness between him and Tana that day. Earlier, as they stood at the back of the boat, the wind whipping through their hair, they seemed a perfect fit . It is an image that now seems somewhat adrift given the allegations which surfaced earlier this year that Ramsay had an affair with author Sarah Symonds.

One of the few times Ramsay visibly bristled during our interview was when asked about using his fame as a tool to promote himself. "Nothing of the sort.

I don't go round promoting myself, " he claimed. "Fame is a disease. I'm not tarnished with any form of fame . . . the fame thing, that's all weird. You don't cook to become famous. How sad would you be? " It became apparent Ramsay is someone who likes to have things both ways - or rather his way: to lap up the attention when the going is good, then complain about media intrusion when the coverage doesn't suit him When I met Ramsay he complained about his treatment in the press.

The latest controversy rumbling on isn't the first time he has locked horns with the antipodeans. In early 2008, Ramsay caused public outcry with senators, schools and parent groups objecting to his liberal use of expletives before the watershed (and this is in a country where you can swear in parliament). When I asked him then about his caricatured public profile, Ramsay made a chopping motion with his hand and a sharp zipping whistling sound. "Over it. Long gone. Am I the only chef who admits to swearing? " he said. "Can I just say I'm not a broadcaster? I'm a chef. So if Australia decides to put Kitchen Nightmares out there at 8.30pm and a chef in California calls me a Scottish twat, I don't control that but yet I get the flack for it. " He proudly described himself as "thick- skinned" and "very Scottish, very durable". Given the many storms and controversies he has weathered over the years, Ramsay is certainly made of robust stuff: the Weeble that wobbles but won't fall down. The Ramsay of the past week, though, seems poles apart from that, a man unravelling before our very eyes. His boundaries, or rather lack of them, have been jarring and utterly despicable. Whether he'll bounce back remains to be seen. Although if anyone can make silk from a sow's ear ? pardon the pig reference ? it's Gordon Ramsay.