Partner has been saying for years: “It's only a matter of time before somebody on one of the reality shows either commits murder or commits suicide.”
Sadly, he appears to be right.
Gordon Ramsay, the pugnacious Scottish chef with the bloody-hell attitude, has built his television career on yelling outrageous insults directly into people's faces. He does appear to know how to cook; I've never eaten at a Ramsay restaurant, but I've watched him in the kitchen often enough to know his style – simple but good. His Shepherd's Pie looks very nice.
As a human being, however, he is a stain on the planet.
Get this: one of the poor contestants on "Hell's Kitchen" a few years ago killed herself. In 2007. Less than a year after her appearance on the show.
And now this: Joseph Cemiglia, proprietor of an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, who was featured on Ramsay's “Kitchen Nightmares” a few years, jumped off a bridge in late September.
Here are some possible theories:
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There's no connection. It's pure coincidence.
Or:
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Ramsay is Satan. He gets in your head and gnaws at your brain until you can't live with yourself.
Or:
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Ramsay preys on the weak and vulnerable, because they make good television. They writhe very prettily on camera. He's a natural bully, so it makes for a good wrangle. In the process, of course, he makes them even more insecure than they already are.
Let's go with Theory #3 for a moment. Pretend you're running a restaurant, and you're not doing well. You're feeling bad about the future. Then someone from TV approaches you about appearing on Ramsay's show, and you don't know if it's the right thing to do. Then someone says, Why not? It's free publicity, one way or the other. Most of the restaurants this guy has featured on his show are doing okay.
And then Gordon shows up, and (don't click on this clip if you're not prepared to hear some atrocious language) he is incredibly abusive. On camera, no less. Lots of good footage of him screaming in your face.
You put up with it. The show airs, and your restaurant is stabilized, for a little while. People saw it on TV, there's a curiosity factor.
Now reality – not TV reality, but real reality – sets in. You really don't feel good about this; what little self-esteem you had left pretty much evaporated after Gordon left your restaurant. Also, millions of people have seen you eviscerated on national TV.
The business slumps again.
Debts accumulate.
What's left?
. . .
Back in 2007, Partner and I spent a week in Ireland. Days we spent touring; evenings we spent marveling at Irish TV shows. We especially liked the British version of “Hell's Kitchen,” led by a chef who'd been Ramsay's restaurant partner for a while, announced by a guy who made sly fun of the whole proceeding, and crewed by a bunch of celebrity kitchen assistants we'd never heard of. It was actually fun to watch. The winner was a former Irish boxing champion, Barry McGuigan, who had no idea how to cook, but who could mash potatoes by hand like nobody's business, and who was incredibly earnest about the whole thing.
So far as I know, not a single contestant on that show has committed suicide to date.
Now that's good television.
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