Gordon Ramsay's furious meltdowns defended as Tom Kerridge questions chef's 'control'

Tom Kerridge reveals his biggest 'kitchen confessions'

Tom Kerridge was sharing his embarrassing kitchen confessions as part of an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, when the subject of fellow chef Gordon Ramsay arose.

Though the Masterchef star is known for losing his rag and letting loose a shower of expletives behind the scenes in the kitchen, Tom declared that he simply has high standards in a professional setting - and said he's "fully in control" of himself at all times. "For me, Gordon's one of the greatest chefs that the UK has ever seen," he exclaimed.

"He's a phenomenal, brilliant chef and an absolute superhuman. He's fully in control of his destiny, and he's a brilliant businessman with amazing restaurants."

Great British Menu star Tom added that chefs need to adopt his perfectionism to avoid being the victim of one of his renowned shouting sessions. "If you're working with him or alongside him, I think you have to get on the journey and be on the same kind of mindset," he suggested.

"Gordon has incredibly high standards that he sets for himself, and he expects to drive himself to that point and for everyone else around him to operate at a similar sort of level." He also reflected: "Sometimes I think there's a difference between Gordon Ramsay the human and Gordon Ramsay the kind of caricature that you can see on television!"

Gordon Ramsay during one of his notorious meltdowns (Image: GETTY)

Tom also shared his views on former maître d'hôtel turned TV star Fred Sirieix's row with This Morning's Josie Gibson on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! 2023 when they dramatically clashed over cooking.

Fred had been accused of "backseat driving" and trying to take over despite his co-star being the one who was nominated to cook.

Tom, who told us he'd "never" do the show himself, sympathised: "I think probably those environments are quite difficult to be in, and once you're living in each other's pockets... I think by the time you've been in the jungle for a couple of weeks, you stand back just a little bit."

"That's probably the best way of doing it. Let someone else have a go!"

Tom Kerridge spoke exclusively to Express Online (Image: TOM KERRIDGE/NEFF)

He added that he'd only ever use his skillset "to enhance someone's experience".

Quizzed on whether he'd want to take control of the cooking, he countered: "I would quite happily stand down if somebody else wanted to do it. I wouldn't want to take over the cooking. I wouldn't want to take over anything.

"I could imagine that if it was your skill set, you'd probably get asked to do it in the first place."

Meanwhile, he confirmed that he's never witnessed any "major catastrophic disasters" from other chefs, as the mistakes tend to happen in their private lives when they're no longer in work mode.

That comes in contrast to recent research by kitchen company NEFF for its Hidden Heroes campaign suggesting 82% of Brits believe major mishaps even hit professional chefs on the job.

Tom Kerridge made some candid kitchen confessions (Image: TOM KERRIDGE/NEFF)

However, Tom did mischievously admit to serving up food after dropping it on the floor at home, among a string of other confessions we've shared in the above video.

A NEFF spokesperson advises: "When cooking for others, it’s often best to stick to what you know. Being in your own kitchen with familiar equipment and recipes is the key to a stress-free, successful meal."

NEFF aims to "inspire home cooks to bring out their creativity in the kitchen" through a series of products including advanced cooktops and to "make cooking a pleasure – and hosting a breeze".

For more information, please visit www.neff-home.com